Pa. cities rank poorly in ‘quality of life’ study

When it comes to choosing a place to live, quality of life is a top consideration for many.

Unfortunately, it appears that several cities in Pennsylvania don’t do so hot in this regard.

LawnStarter recently published a study titled “2025’s Leading Cities for Quality of Life.” In it, researchers graded the 500 biggest U.S. cities across 13 main categories including “Economic Stability;” “Healthcare Access;” “Safety;” and “Air & Water Quality.”

When all was said and done, seven cities in the Keystone State made it onto the final list, all of which landed in pretty poor spots: Bethlehem (246th overall); Pittsburgh (303rd); Allentown (386th); Scranton (401st); Philadelphia (436th); Erie (440th); and Reading (469th). Philadelphia in particular was noted for having the fourth highest food insecurity rate in the country at 17.6 percent.

Then again, they all technically did better than Flint, Michigan, which came in dead last.

On the other hand, the top three cities with the best quality of life were found to be Plymouth, Minnesota in third; Woodbury, Minnesota in second; and Newton, Massachusetts in first.

“Because of life should be for all people, I would rate the most important factor as housing costs relative to wages,” said Mark D. Bjelland, Ph.D., professor of geography at Calvin University. “Because I value urbanism, a second factor would be the walkability and density of restaurants, shops, and services.

“A city’s walk score or transit score captures this pretty well. Third, parks and trails are essential to a high quality of life. I grew up in Minneapolis and all of my Minneapolis friends would agree that the park and parkway system was what made Minneapolis a great place to live.”

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