With the 2025 election bringing new leadership, and thus new financial and social policies, to many state capitals, the personal finance website WalletHub recently released its report on “2025's Best State Capitals to Live In.”
WalletHub compared all 50 state capitals across 48 key metrics, ranging from the cost of living and K-12 school-system quality to the number of attractions.
The “Top 20” state capitals to make one’s residency, according to the survey were (in order) Austin, Texas; Madison, Wisc.; Raleigh, N.C.; Boise, Idaho; Atlanta, Ga.; Lincoln, Neb.; Salt Lake City, Utah; Denver, Colo.; St. Paul, Minn.’ Columbus, Ohio; Concord, N.H.; Nashville, Tenn.; Bismarck, N.D.; Montpelier, Vt.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Des Moines, Ia.; Pierre, S.D.; Helena, Mt.; Boston, Mass.; and Providence, R.I.
Best versus worst takeaways from the survey were:
- Concord, N.H. has the lowest violent crime rate per 1,000 residents, – 11.5 times lower than Little Rock, Ark., the city with the highest rate.
- Austin, Texas, has the highest median household income (adjusted for cost of living), – 2.1 times higher than Hartford, Conn., the city with the lowest.
- Montpelier, Vt. has the highest share of adults ages 25-plus with at least a bachelor’s degree, – 4.2 times higher than Trenton, N.J., the city with the lowest.