By Heather Collins
Residents have another reason to be proud to call Carmel home. The city has been rated 2017’s Best Place to Live in America by Niche, a data company website that analyzes public data to create rankings, report cards and profiles for schools, colleges and neighborhoods throughout the U.S.
“Carmel seems to get high marks in a variety of rankings that pop up on the web. Most of the time, we don’t even know we are in the running, but we are happy to see that the things we are doing have caught the attention of others,” Mayor Jim Brainard said.
Niche gathers data from the U.S. Census Bureau, FBI, CDC and other sources to compile the results. Several factors are considered by Niche, including the education rate, cost of living, housing and crime rate.
“These rankings are more than just nice mentions. They actually help Carmel earn recognition across the country, which helps us in our economic development efforts,” Brainard said. “Thanks to modern technology, people have a choice of where they can live, and they are looking for cities that are safe, have good schools and a variety of recreational and entertainment options.”
Carmel ranked No. 1 one out of the 15,783 places in the U.S. that Niche assessed. Niche gave Carmel an A+ for public schools, housing, good for families and jobs. Carmel scored an A for health and fitness, an A- for crime and safety and a B+ for diversity. Carmel’s lowest grade was a B- for weather.
“This survey, combined with others and the wide variety of good-paying professional opportunities that continue to be created in Carmel, has certainly helped our reputation as one of the best places to live in America,” Brainard said.
Chesterbrook, Penn., placed second on the list and Houserville, Penn., placed third. For information, visit niche.com.
