Six California cities were ranked among the best in the nation, with two placing in the top 10, according to a new report.
The half-dozen cities included in the “2026 America’s Best Cities” report from Resonance, an international consulting firm, span the Golden State.
“The forces shaping city rankings in 2026 did not emerge overnight,” Resonance said. “They have been building across a decade of demographic change, policy shifts, and economic restructuring, and they are now producing visible, measurable divergence between the cities gaining ground and those losing it.”
The firm created its list by assessing 393 metropolitan areas using three broad categories: livability, prosperity, and livability.
“America’s Best Cities measures what it actually means to be a competitive city in the modern era — not just whether residents can reach a park or afford housing, but whether the city resonates: whether people want to be there,” Resonance said.
The report analyzed the metro areas combining real-world performance and public perception. Livability includes quality-of-life factors such as housing, transit, and healthcare. Lovability is based on a city’s appeal to visitors, including dining, culture, and social media buzz. Prosperity assesses a city’s economic strength, jobs, and income. Each category uses data from dozens of indicators, along with survey responses from more than 2,000 Americans about where they’d want to live, visit, and work.
The firm also created a list of the nation’s best small cities, which used the same methodology but limited the rankings to metros with populations of 500,000 or fewer.
Here’s what to know about Resonance’s report and what it found for California.
California cities rank among America’s best, report says
The six cities included in Resonance’s rankings span globally dominant cities, strong lifestyle destinations, and economic hubs, but only two cracked the top 10: Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Other Golden State cities included in the rankings landed in the top half of the rankings — San Diego, San Jose, and Sacramento — while Santa Cruz fell in the lower half of the rankings.
Here’s a full list of California cities that made Resonance’s list, along with their ranking and overall scores.
Los Angeles (#2)
San Francisco (#5)
San Diego (#12)
San Jose (#29)
Sacramento (#47)
Santa Cruz (#87)
California cities make best small cities list
Resonance’s report also included a list of America’s best small cities, where again six California cities made the cut.
Here is a list of California cities that made the list, along with their rankings.
Santa Cruz (#16)
Napa (#67)
Santa Rosa (#79)
San Luis Obispo (#84)
Santa Maria (#98)
Top 10 cities in ‘2026 America’s Best Cities’ ranking
The top 10 cities in Resonance’s “2026 America’s Best Cities” ranking include:
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Six California cities make ‘America’s Best Cities’ list, two in top 10
Reporting by Daniella Segura, USA TODAY NETWORK / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Daniella Segura, USA TODAY NETWORK | USA TODAY Network
