SOUTH BEND — Thirteen years after Newsweek called South Bend a “dying city,” another magazine has provided further proof of the city’s continued resurrection.
Last week, U.S. News and World Report named South Bend No. 25 on its “Best Places to Live in the U.S. in 2024-2025” list — a 51-place jump from its 2023 ranking at No. 76.
South Bend Mayor James Mueller is excited to land on — and even move up — the positive list, but he still remembers when South Bend was on the list of dying cities.
Although progress has been made in South Bend, Mueller questions whether so much has changed since last year to explain the jump in rankings.
“You gotta be careful with these lists because there’s a methodology to them,” Mueller said. “Those can fluctuate year to year, and we weren’t a dying city 13 years ago.”
Taking rankings lists with reservations is important — due to how the cities are ordered on the lists. Cities 15-25 all received the same overall score of 6.6, for example. Additionally, Greensboro, N.C., ranked two cities above South Bend — despite South Bend having a higher quality of life and value.
South Bend also was ranked No. 34 on U.S. News’ best places to retire. The top criteria for the retirement index includes the happiness of the residents, housing affordability, tax rates and healthcare quality.
The U.S News Quality of Life Index:
U.S News’ methodology utilizes data from the U.S Census Bureau, the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. News’ own internal resources.
According to U.S News, the data is “categorized into the four indexes listed below and evaluated using a methodology determined by Americans’ preferences. The percent weighting for each index follows the answers from a February 2024 public survey in which people from across the country voted for what they believed was the most important factor to consider when choosing where to live.”
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Quality of Life Index (32%) : takes into account crime rate; quality of education; well-being; commuter index; quality and availability of healthcare; air quality index; Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Risk index.
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Value Index (27%): housing affordability index determined by dividing the blended annual housing cost by the blended median annual household income for each city and price parity data for goods, housing, utilities and other.
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Desirability Index (19%): taken from a survey monkey polling conducted in February 2024 regarding which of the ranked cities they’d most want to live in; net migration; the number of temperate days; number of restaurants and drinking establishments per 100,000 people.
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Job Market Index (22%): based on the unemployment rate and the average annual salary.
Cost of Living
In its description of South Bend, U.S. News wrote that the city “boasts a low cost of living as well as an array of parks and other diversions to keep locals entertained.”
San Francisco ranked No. 22 on the list despite the value being ranked 4.8 while South Bend received a ranking of 7.6.
According to U.S News, South Bend has both a low cost of living with a median rent price of $962 and a median home price of $133,774 — compared to a national average of $281,900. The median household income in South Bend is $56,890 compared to a national average of $75,149.
According to the U.S Census Bureau, South Bend’s population has increased by 2,285 people from 2010 to 2020.
“We’ve been building housing as much as we can, housing of all types,” Mueller said. “So trying to maintain that affordability as our population grows.”
Employment
“At the turn of the 20th century, South Bend was one of the largest manufacturing centers in the Midwest, home to iconic brands like the Studebaker automobile company and Singer sewing machines,” U.S. News wrote. “Today, many of those companies are gone. “
Despite the closure of these manufacturing hubs, South Bend still has several large employers in the area.
“The University of Notre Dame is the area’s largest employer, ” U.S. News wrote and also highlighted several health care firms as being other major employers.
According to U.S News, South Bend has an unemployment rate of 5.15%.
Mueller said the list does not take every employment factor into account.
“There’s been a lot of announced projects, billion-dollar projects and new jobs coming,” Mueller said. “That’s not even taken into account yet because they’re looking at current salaries and job market conditions.”
Education
U.S News gave South Bend a 4.7 out of 10 on the college readiness scale.
Crime
According to U.S News, the number of violent and property crime was lower than the national average. Overall, South Bend received a crime index rating of 9.5 out of 10.
South Bend has made progress in terms of reducing the overall crime rate.
“Crime has dropped significantly over the past couple of years here,” Mueller said. “A lot of hard work from our police department, our community leaders and others to make that progress happen.”
Transportation
“Although it has a public bus system, called Transpo, the South Bend area isn’t large enough to sustain the robust mass transit of a bigger city, so having a car here is a necessity,” the U.S. News story says. “Ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft have increasingly established themselves here in recent years.”
Recreation and Entertainment
South Bend has various options for those who enjoy spending time outside and inside.
The St. Joseph River, the East Race, St. Patrick’s County Park, South Bend Cubs games at Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium and Lake Michigan’s nearby beaches are all cited as draws for outdoor recreation in the article.
Indoors, Four Winds Casino, the Morris Performing Arts Center and the Studebaker National Museum received mentions.
What other Indiana cities made the list?
No. 20: Fort Wayne, 6.6 overall
No. 66: Indianapolis, 6.3 overall
Top Ten Cities to live in
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Naples, Florida
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Boise, Idaho
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Colorado Springs, CO
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Greenville, SC
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Charlotte, NC
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Raleigh, NC
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Huntsville, AL
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Virginia Beach, VA
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Austin, TX
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Boulder, CO
Email Tribune staff writer Rose Androwich at randrowich@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend ranks 25 in best cities to live in
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