How Best Places Accolades Support Talent Attraction

Livability’s annual Top 100 Best Places to Live is a data-driven collection of the best small to mid-sized American cities. We curate our list based on 100+ data points, and it represents the top 5% of 2,000+ U.S. cities with populations between 75,000 and 500,000.

Ours is the only list out there that focuses on affordability and the fantastic places across the country besides large metros – celebrating the cities where most Americans create dream careers, families, businesses and meaningful lives.

Besides the bragging rights, recognition like this can help you attract talent to your area. Here’s how!

How do lists and accolades support talent attraction?

The digital components of your community’s story are key to getting your area in front of talent. That’s your online presence, social media platforms, media coverage you’ve received, etc. These make up what we at Livability like to call your “digital front door.” It’s the first impression people form based on what they find out about your community online – the first things they see when they search for information about your place, whether they use Google or their preferred AI tool.

When you receive recognition from authoritative outlets like Livability, it becomes a key part of that “digital front door.” And, in addition to showing up for people seeking out your area specifically, your city gets in front of people looking for the best places to live in general. People who have never considered your city might realize it’s their perfect place!

Industry research has also noted the influence of rankings when people are considering relocation. So next time you appear on one of these lists, rankings or roundups, know that it’s giving your talent attraction marketing a boost!


We made it! Now what?

Share on all your platforms! The more you promote, the wider your reach.

Make It Your Own on Social. Create a graphic that emphasizes your community’s placement, or create your own LinkedIn article like Get2KnowNoke out of Roanoke. And if you still need a little help, check out our Top 100 toolkit with sample posts and graphics.

Capture Traffic. Boost traffic to your site with your own blog about the accomplishment – like this example from the Birmingham Business Alliance.

Pitch Local Media. Local media will pick up these accolades and dive further into them, like this piece from Rio Rancho, NM. Livability conducts media outreach in all Top 100 cities, but you can use your own local connections.

How do I get my city on a list?

We know it’s cool to be recognized, but since the methodology for best places lists involves a complex, data-driven process, reverse-engineering isn’t easy.

It can take years for change in your community not only to happen, but also to be reflected in data. Plus, we’re all working with what we have…amenities are more changeable than natural disaster risk, for example, and our list considers both.

The answer: keep doing what you’re doing. Your work growing, supporting and bettering your community over time is what it’s all about.

If you’d like support painting your community in its best light, we know someone you can call. We also release other data-driven and editors’ choice lists throughout the year. We’d love to hear from you about what makes your community special!

Livability highlights the nation’s most vibrant small and mid-sized cities. Through Livability’s custom content programs, relocating talent and business decision-makers discover your community and glean the insights they need to shortlist your area as one of the best places to live or to grow a business.