Research Guides: Career Resources: Researching Places to Live

Where to Live?

Listed below are factors to consider when researching a potential place to live.

Affordability
Employment Opportunities
Diversity of Population
Taxes
Real Estate Value
Proximity to Family/Friends
Climate
Scenery/Ocean/Mountains
Culture
Food Options/Restaurants
Town/City Size
Commute Time/Public Transportation
Recreation
Shopping
Proximity to an Airport
Educational System
Health Care Facilities
Safety/Crime Rates

So... where do you want to live?

Check out these resources to learn about places to live in the United States

The Ultimate Guide to Finding Your Best Place to Live This link opens in a new window
Ready to move but aren't sure where to go? These questions will help you figure out the best place to live for you. (July 30, 2021)
MoneyCrashers: Where Should I Live? – 14 Factors to Help You Decide the Best Place This link opens in a new
Things to Consider When Choosing a Place to Live. Naturally, this choice involves a lot of considerations — more than a dozen in all. Some, like affordability and employment opportunities, are obvious and near-universal in their applicability. Others, like food choice and climate, might seem less important next to dollars-and-cents issues like where you’ll draw your paycheck and how far it’ll take you. But they can still dramatically impact your quality of life and overall well-being in the long run.
National Association of Realtors: Best Places to Live This link opens in a new window
This site lists nine criteria for where to live and then lists of best places for each, such as: Best Affordable Places to Live; Safest Places to Live, etc.
2021 Best Places to Live in America - Niche This link opens in a new window
Explore the best places to live in the U.S. based on crime, public schools, cost of living, job opportunities, and local amenities. Ranking based on data from the U.S. Census, FBI, BLS, CDC, and other sources. Also includes a search box to look up a particular city/town.
US News & World Report: 25 Best Places for Young Professionals This link opens in a new window
These places offer the job market, affordability and reputation recent grads are looking for. Updated November 2020.
SmartAsset: Best Cities for New College Grads – 2021 Edition This link opens in a new window
This is SmartAsset’s seventh study on the best cities for new college grads. Their methodology centers around jobs, affordability and fun, and they explain how they come up with their data and rankings.
National Equity Atlas
The National Equity Atlas contains data on demographic change, racial and economic inclusion, and the potential economic gains from racial equity for the largest 100 cities, 430 large counties, the largest 150 regions, all 50 states, and the United States as a whole. It includes a wide variety of Indicators from a Diversity Index to Air Pollution for cities, counties, states and the country.

Salary & Cost of Living

When evaluating a future place to live, being able to calculate the cost of living there, and how far your paycheck will take you is essential. Below are some tools to help you do that. The specific resources highlighted here are available for free. There are other tools that can help you generate items like a personal salary report to negotiate your compensation, however, they may have a fee associated with them.

CareerOnestop Wage Tools This link opens in a new window
Use CareerOneStop's four tools: Salary Finder; Compare Salaries; Compare Cost of Living; and Highest Paying Careers to evaluate employment compensation in different locations.
CNN Money - Cost of Living Calculator This link opens in a new window
Cost of living: How far will my salary go in another city? Provides comparisons between your current location and future location for Groceries, Housing, Utilities, Transportation and Health Care.
moving.com - Compare Cost of Living in Cities This link opens in a new window
City Comparison
-U.S. Census Bureau population estimates and projections
-Bureau of Labor household income and jobs data
-Residential data including median house value and commute times
Educate to Career - Job Seekers Free Salary Calculator This link opens in a new window
This is a very thorough salary calculator that asks for 7 specific pieces of information from you to give a precise calculation of salary warranted for that position for someone with your experience and education.

Learn More about Places to Live with a Google Search

It's true that you can find some high-quality, trustworthy websites to use in your career research and to find out more about potential places to live. If you're going to use websites, make sure to evaluate your sources thoroughly, including using the questions at the bottom of this box. Check out our Google Like a Librarian guide for search tips or ask a librarian (ask@snhu.libanswers.com) if you need more help.

Search Terms

Your Google results will be better if you use focused search terms/phrases to learn more about places to live and work. Below are suggestions for potential search terms/phrases you might try:

Use the name of a location AND:

affordability
"cost of living"
crime rate
safety rating
recreation
night life
population
diversity
green space
rental prices OR home prices
school ratings
taxes
climate
"public transportation"
"health care"
airport proximity
food options

Evaluate any source you find using Google

For career resources specifically, be sure to:

Find out WHO is sponsoring the website you are looking at, and HOW they make money via that site?
Is there a FEE for the information or service provided on the site?
WHERE is their data coming from? Is it a government source or a private source? Could it be skewed in any way? Is it current?