(COLORADO SPRINGS) — For the first time in seven years, Colorado Springs is no longer ranked among the best cities in the country.
U.S. News and World Report ranked Colorado Springs at 406 compared to being ranked number three just a year ago.
“It seems really doom and gloom to go from three to 406, but it goes from like, top of the list to still in the top half,” said Erika Giovanetti, a Consumer Lending Analyst for U.S. News and World Report.
Giovanetti said the drop has a lot to do with the list of cities expanding from 150 in 2024 to 850 in 2025. But there are other reasons why we fell so far.
“Colorado Springs does not rank very well when it comes to safety,” Giovanetti said. “The city is in the top 16% in the nation for crime and that includes rates of both property and violent crime.”
Kylar Dupard moved to Colorado Springs eight years ago and told FOX21 News he used to live around the crime.
“I would hear random gunshots every once in a while, and one of my neighbors that was pretty spiteful slashed two of my tires at one point,” Dupard said.
Another factor for the drop is job opportunities. Giovanetti said it does not help the city’s case to be ranked higher.
“It [Colorado Springs] really needs to have a better balance of job market and affordability in order to be a feasible place for people to live,” Giovanetti said.
Affordability and cost of living is Dupard’s biggest concern when it comes to living in Colorado Springs. He is specifically worried about housing and rent pricing.
“All the [apartments] I keep seeing go up aren’t really affordable ones,” Dupard said. “They’re luxury apartments that, just because they have a nice view of the mountains, they cost $1,500 for a single bedroom.”
But there are differing viewpoints of Colorado Springs depending on who you ask. It seems when it comes to where you live, everyone has different boxes to check. Even with some of the downfalls, Dupard said he still sees Colorado Springs as a good place to live.
“Moving here has opened up a lot of opportunity and a lot of new experiences,” Dupard said. “Is it perfect? Absolutely not, but I don’t think any place is.”
Colorado Springs did rank seventh among Colorado cities that made the most recent rankings for best places to live–notably beating out Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins.
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