Alexandria Maintains Third Best Small City In 2024 Ranking

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Alexandria is maintaining its profile as one of America's best small cities. The city was again ranked third among small cities in the 2024 Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards.

More than 575,000 Condé Nast Traveler readers rated their travel experiences to determine the award winners. Alexandria is third on the best small cities list, just behind the first place Charleston, South Carolina and second place Santa Fe, New Mexico. It ranked ahead of cities like Lexington, Kentucky; Greenville, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; and Key West, Florida.

In the ranking, Condé Nast cites Old Town's charming appeal along the Potomac River just across from Washington, D.C. The neighboring D.C. ranked fifth on the best large cities list.

"Most folks start to imagine moving there immediately after setting foot in Old Town, once they’ve strolled the red-brick sidewalks, clocking street after street of perfectly preserved rowhouses from the 18th and 19th centuries," Condé Nast shares about Alexandria.

Some highlights Condé Nast shared are King Street's boutiques and restaurants, the waterfront, Torpedo Factory Art Center and Gadsby's Tavern.

The top 10 best small cities are:

1. Charleston, South Carolina

2. Santa Fe, New Mexico

3. Alexandria, Virginia

4. Lexington, Kentucky

5. Greenville, South Carolina

6. Savannah, Georgia

7. Pensacola, Florida

8. Healdsburg, California

9. Key West, Florida

10. Chattanooga, Tennessee

This was the third time Alexandria ranked third on the best small cities list, as it also achieved the ranking in 2023, 2021 and 2019. It has been in the top five since the best small cities category was launched in 2018.

Visit Alexandria, the membership-based tourism organization for the city, has sought high-profile national rankings as a way to promote the city. The organization wants to boost visitor-related revenues to help fund city services and ease the tax burden on city residents. Alexandria has also ranked on Travel + Leisure’s Best Cities in the U.S. for three consecutive years.