Tampa Is Florida’s Most Livable Big City: Study

TAMPA, FL — The folks at WalletHub have come to a conclusion that many locals already know: Tampa is a pretty cool city. The website dedicated to all things personal finance, in fact, named the Cigar City one of the country's best big cities to live in.

The ranking report, released Monday, zeroed in on the country’s 62 largest cities. Those cities were ranked based on 50 key metrics that ranged from job opportunities and quality of schools to air quality and walkability. When the numbers were crunched, Tampa scored 14th-place honors, putting it in the Top 15. The city outshined others across Florida, including Jacksonville’s 36th place and Miami’s 54th place.

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On the individual metrics used to gauge Tampa’s “livability,” WalletHub reported Cigar City scored high nationally on such factors as:

• Job opportunities – 2nd place
• Quality of public schools – 7th place
• Air quality – 17th place
• Violent crime rate – 25th place
• Walkability – 27th place
• Quality of the public hospital system – 35th place

Virginia Beach, Virginia, earned first-place honors in the rankings, followed by Seattle, Washington. WalletHub’s number crunchers say Detroit, Michigan, is the least livable big city in the country in 62nd place. Memphis, Tennessee, came in 61st place.

Data pulled to create the rankings report came from such sources as the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the FBI and the institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, among others. To read more about the methodology used, visit WalletHub online.

To read the full ranking report of the best and worst big cities for living, check out WalletHub.

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Photo via the City of Tampa’s Facebook page