Huntsville ranked as best southern city to live in post-pandemic, Decatur also highly rated

Two North Alabama cities have been named in a list of the best metropolitan areas in which to live after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Business Insider recently took a look at the top U.S. cities to move to after the pandemic ends, and the publication on Sunday spun that nationwide list off into a separate ranking of locales in the South.

Huntsville was named the top southern city in the rankings, and Decatur came in at No. 19 in the South.

Factors included “looking at the share of jobs that can potentially be done remotely, the pre-coronavirus unemployment rate, and housing costs.” You can read more about the exact methodology here.

Huntsville also scored as the 13th-best city in America for the full national list. Only 30 cities made those rankings.

“Huntsville had a pre-coronavirus unemployment rate of 2.2%, tied for the sixth-lowest rate among metro areas (nationwide), and 41.5% of jobs could be done from home, a higher share than in most metro areas,” Business Insider wrote. “Of residents who are at least 25 years old, 40.3% have at least a bachelor’s degree, the 10th-highest share among metro areas in the South.”

The publication explained why Decatur fared well in the southern rankings.

“Decatur’s cost of living is 16.5% less than the national average, ranking as the 14th-lowest cost of living among metro areas in the South. The population density of 120.1 people per square mile is lower than many of the other metro areas in this region. The pre-coronavirus unemployment rate of this city was 2.4%, lower than the US rate of 3.5% in February,” Business Insider outlined.

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.