According to the 2025-2026 Best Places to Live in the U.S. ranking by U.S. News and World Report, Huntsville is no longer one of the top cities on the list. In fact it is no longer even considered the best in the Yellowhammer State.

In the past three years Huntsville was ranked first, second, and then seventh on the list. This year the Rocket City fell all the way down to number 85.

Erika Giovanetti, consumer lending analyst at U.S. News & World Report, explained why there was such a dramatic decline.

“While the drop seems very extreme, it’s actually not that significant when you look at it proportionally and in fact any city that made the top 250 is considered to be a really great accomplishment,” she said. “The expansion of the 2025-2026 Best Places to Live rankings gives consumers a more detailed view into what it’s like to live somewhere at the community level, enabling them to consider more options for potential places to settle down.”

U.S. News expanded its data this year. They evaluated more than 850 cities and published the top 250 best places.

Taking the number one spot this year is Johns Creek, Georgia. The top city in Alabama is Hoover.

“Hoover is also home to the National Computer Forensics Institute, the nation’s premier law enforcement training facility specializing in cybercrime research,” the report states. “And thanks in part to its high marks for safety, Hoover is in the top third of cities for desirability.”

Colorado Springs, which has been competing with Huntsville to be the permanent location of the U.S. Space Command headquarters, was not included in the list this year.

The other three cities in Alabama among the top 250 on the ranking are Decatur at 130, Daphne at 182 and Dothan at 190.

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee