We, Tampa residents, always feel glad whenever others tell us we’re living in one of the best places to live in the U.S., even if we’ve already known it since we fell in love with the city and decided to live here.
TAMPA was ranked 19th in a list of the Top 100 Best Places to Live in the U.S., based on data as of the year 2013. by Livability.com, Using data from Walk Score, Great Schools, Esri, Center for Neighborhood Technology, Americans for the Arts, the U.S. Census, U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, National Center for Education Statics and the Arizona State University’s Vulcan Project.
Livability.com researchers, in partnership with Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, collated and analyzed data on over 1,700 U.S. cities to take a look at their demographics, economics, health care, social and civic programs, housing, city amenities, urban planning, sustainability, community life and infrastructure.
Tampa got a Livability score of 620, just 26 points below that of the No. 1 city, Palo Alto in california. The only other Florida city in the Top 20 is Miami Beach, which ranked fifth. The next Florida city after Tampa is Fort Lauderdale which ranked 24th.
Here are the 20 Best Places to Live in the U.S., based on data as of the year 2013:
| RANK City | Livability Score |
| 1 Palo Alto, California | 646 |
| 2 Boulder, Colorado | 643 |
| 3 Berkeley, California | 643 |
| 4 Durham, North Carolina | 640 |
| 5 Miami Beach, Florida | 639 |
| 6 Rochester, Minnesota | 636 |
| 7 Salt Lake City, Utah | 635 |
| 8 Eugene, Oregon | 633 |
| 9 Reno, Nevada | 631 |
| 10 Rockville, Maryland | 631 |
| 11 Boise, Idaho | 630 |
| 12 Bellevue, Washington | 630 |
| 13 Ann Arbor, Michigan | 627 |
| 14 Salem, Oregon | 626 |
| 15 Santa Clara, California | 622 |
| 16 Provo, Utah | 622 |
| 17 Overland Park, Kansas | 621 |
| 18 Greensboro, North Carolina | 620 |
| 19 Tampa, Florida | 620 |
| 20 Pasadena, California | 620 |
The other Florida cities in the 100 Best Places to Live are:
| 24 Fort Lauderdale | 615 |
| 34 Gainesville | 610 |
| 39 Orlando | 606 |
| 42 Tallahassee | 605 |
| 59 St. Petersburg | 595 |
| 67 West Palm Beach | 591 |
Tampa got its highest scores in the categories of amenities, which was 93, and health care, which was 80. Next two are in demographics and education, with scores of 75 and 73, respectively. Cities get high scores if they offer lots of options for entertainment, healthy living and culture such as parks, trails, theaters, museums, restaurants, zoos, theme parks, historic places, libraries, golf courses, farmers markets, festivals, picnics, community events, arts centers, nature parks and professional sports.
With Tampa close to spectacular bodies of water, most notably the Gulf of Mexico, Tampa Bay and Hillsborough River, residents have lots of fun activities to choose from, like unwinding at the beach, swimming, fishing, boating, jogging along streams, biking or strolling on Bayshore Boulevard, or getting on a cruise ship.
Among the most popular attractions in Tampa are:
Tampa is also known for the University of South Florida, the MacDill Air Force Base, its masterplanned communities and retirement resorts, and its health research and medical facilities.