Nashville tops the list of Americans’ favorite US cities
A YouGov survey of how Americans view 50 US cities places Music City in first chair.
Whether you’re roped in by honky-tonk, hot chicken, hospitality, or the Queen of Country herself, there are plenty of fixin’s to be pickin’ from when you visit Nashville.
The capital of Tennessee was named the city that Americans view most favorably out of the top 50 most populous US cities listed in a new YouGov survey, published Monday.
Indeed, Nashville’s net favorability — the share of Americans who viewed each city favorably minus the share who viewed it unfavorably — was +44 overall, ahead of Colorado Springs (+40) and San Diego (+39). Nashville was also the most popular city among respondents living in cities (tied with Colorado Springs), as well as among those living in suburbs, towns, and rural areas, with a net score of +41.
Interestingly, the cities that were most overwhelmingly preferred by urbanites were two hubs both known for facing (political and vehicular) gridlock, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles, with disparities between scores from city dwellers and small-towners totaling 33 and 30, respectively.
On the other end, San Antonio in Texas — famed for its local charm and feel despite being the seventh-most-populous city in the US — was considered 20 points more favorable by non-city dwellers than cosmopolitan counterparts.
While there’s an unsurprising trend observable in the data that people who live in cities tend to prefer cities over those who don’t, whether or not respondents had actually been to the city that they were weighing in on also affected the outcome of the survey.
Indeed, Raleigh, North Carolina, beat Nashville in terms of positive opinions among Americans who had been to the city in question, totaling +73 net favorability within this cohort compared with Nashville’s +65.
Related reading: Can you guess what Americans’ favorite state is?
