You are hyped and ready to buy your first house and you’ve finally figured out that you can afford it, you’ve been pre-approved and now you are raring to go and buy in a small to mid-size city. But wait a minute, where do you even begin to look at where to live? Where do you even start looking for a house to buy?  To help you out, there is a survey that looked at the demographics, amenities, economy, education, housing, social status, and transportation and ranked them to find out where in the US is the best place to live.  

Rank 5 Palo Alto California

Palo Alto California remains one of the best places to live especially for those blazing the digital frontier. A 31 mile fiber ring around the city provides ultra-high speed Internet access. It has a well-educated, politically active and socially minded population. The median home price here is $1,000,000.

Rank 4 Boulder Colorado

Boulder is situated along the Rocky Mountains and sitting 5400 feet high, it is home to the University of Colorado and all its arts and culture offerings. It has a lot of outdoor attractions such as hiking, rock climbing, and mountain biking. It also has several shopping centers and great restaurants. The median home price here is $489,500

Rank 3 Arlington Virginia

It is known worldwide for the Arlington National Cemetery that was established during the Civil War, Arlington is an upscale community whose largest employer is the US Government with 34,000 Employees.

Rank 2 Rochester Minnesota

Rochester is home to the founders of the Mayo clinic who believed that the city needed a vibrant culture to attract top physicians. Today, in addition to excellent health care, Rochester gives residents a stable economy, excellent recreational facilities and a large collection of restaurants and unique shops. The median home price here is $165,300

Rank 1 Madison Wisconsin (yes, really)

Madison Wisconsin tops the list of the 2015 best places to live in one report. Both a capitol city, and a hip college town, Madison provides its residents with affordable housing, great schools, excellent health care and a wide range of recreational activities and entertainment options. The median home price here is 217,500

In the end, the best place to live and the types of homes to buy is really a personal choice –your choice. My personal choice is Scottsdale homes for sale; they’re beautiful! To each their own, of course, and ultimately you will be the one to decide where you want to live, so take these rankings with a grain of salt. However, use these as a good start to look for the perfect place to call your home.