NC’s Capital Ranked As The 3rd Best In America To Live In

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Charlotte Stories
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With the 2025 election bringing new leadership, and thus new financial and social policies, to many state capitals, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2025’s Best State Capitals to Live In.

The site compared all 50 state capitals across 48 key metrics, ranging from the cost of living to K-12 school-system quality to the number of attractions.

North Carolina’s capital of Raleigh came in as the 3rd best in America. South Carolina’s capital of Columbia was ranked in the middle of the pack at #32.

Best State Capitals

Overall Rank*  City State Capital Index  Affordability Rank  Economic Well-Being Rank  Quality of Education & Health Rank  Quality of Life Rank 
1 Austin, TX 64.75 7 1 1 11
2 Madison, WI 61.15 18 8 3 3
3 Raleigh, NC 60.33 10 11 5 16
4 Boise, ID 59.86 25 2 9 4
5 Atlanta, GA 59.22 15 13 11 6
6 Lincoln, NE 57.15 11 16 17 20
7 Salt Lake City, UT 56.08 35 4 6 14
8 Denver, CO 56.08 27 10 10 17
9 St. Paul, MN 55.94 12 28 16 13
10 Columbus, OH 55.76 14 25 26 7
11 Concord, NH 55.20 5 18 27 30
12 Nashville, TN 54.84 23 3 21 22
13 Bismarck, ND 54.73 2 23 20 36
14 Montpelier, VT 54.70 31 12 4 25
15 Oklahoma City, OK 54.49 3 19 37 27
16 Des Moines, IA 53.87 6 29 19 31
17 Pierre, SD 53.68 1 39 32 39
18 Helena, MT 53.04 24 21 8 33
19 Boston, MA 52.52 49 24 2 2
20 Providence, RI 52.15 46 9 18 5
21 Phoenix, AZ 52.01 26 5 34 24
22 Olympia, WA 51.57 44 17 13 19
23 Sacramento, CA 51.30 45 7 24 9
24 Jefferson City, MO 50.90 8 27 40 34
25 Tallahassee, FL 50.79 36 34 14 15
26 Albany, NY 50.12 42 40 15 10
27 Annapolis, MD 50.10 34 36 12 23
28 Richmond, VA 50.03 40 22 38 8
29 Springfield, IL 50.01 4 41 30 41
30 Salem, OR 49.92 37 14 22 28
31 Cheyenne, WY 49.88 9 26 33 42
32 Columbia, SC 49.47 29 47 23 12
33 Santa Fe, NM 49.20 39 20 25 29
34 Honolulu, HI 49.09 50 15 7 1
35 Harrisburg, PA 47.62 30 35 41 21
36 Indianapolis, IN 47.36 19 30 46 32
37 Carson City, NV 46.78 32 6 45 47
38 Juneau, AK 46.71 28 37 28 35
39 Lansing, MI 46.48 16 38 44 40
40 Topeka, KS 46.42 13 33 42 48
41 Frankfort, KY 46.03 21 46 43 26
42 Charleston, WV 45.76 20 31 35 45
43 Little Rock, AR 44.14 22 32 36 50
44 Montgomery, AL 43.56 17 44 48 43
45 Hartford, CT 42.43 48 48 29 18
46 Dover, DE 41.06 38 42 39 46
47 Baton Rouge, LA 40.51 41 45 49 38
48 Jackson, MS 39.43 33 49 47 49
49 Trenton, NJ 39.35 43 50 50 37
50 Augusta, ME 39.32 47 43 31 44

Note: *No. 1 = Best State Capital