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With assistance from Bloomberg Rankings, Businessweek.com evaluated 100 of the country’s largest cities based on 16 criteria, which include: the number of restaurants, bars, and museums per capita; the number of colleges, libraries, and professional sports teams; the income, poverty, unemployment, crime, and foreclosure rates; percent of population with bachelor’s degrees, public school performance, park acres per 1,000 residents, and air quality. Greater weighting was placed on recreational amenities such as parks, bars, restaurants, and museums, and on educational attainment, school performance, poverty, and air quality. The data came from the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Sperling’s BestPlaces, GreatSchools, Onboard Informatics, RealtyTrac, and the Trust for Public Land. Read on to find out which cities top the ranking. Is your city on the list?

Jacksonville 
America’s Best Places Rank: 26th
Population: 802,843
Mayor: Alvin Brown

Why it’s ranked: With miles of Florida beaches nearby and thousands of acres of parks and preserves, residents of Jacksonville are spoiled with outdoor activities. The Atlantic Ocean provides both great air quality and a hurricane now and then. The city has good schools, low poverty rates, and plenty of great options for nightlife.

How it ranked:
Percent with bachelor's degrees: 24.3
Percent under poverty level: 13.5
Median household income: $48,514
Violent crime rate: 836
Property crime rate: 5,157.7
School score: 70.71
Pro sports teams: 1
Foreclosure rate: .0127
Percent Unemployment: 10.5
Park acres per 1,000 residents: 54.2
Bars: 156
Restaurants: 1,648
Museums: 46
Colleges: 14
Libraries: 28
Air Quality Index: 78

Venessa Wong and Joel Stonington

BusinessWeek.com