View or print our national rankings handout
Iowa tied as the number one state to retire in the US! MoneyRates evaluated the country’s best states for retirees based on economic factors (cost of living, property taxes, and unemployment), crime and safety (violent and property crime rates), lifestyle factors (older population and average temperatures), and health care conditions (nursing facility capability, life expectancy, and health care costs).
Cedar Rapids ranked the #1 best place in America for Children five years in a row! (2015 - 2019) and remains in the top three for 2020.
Cedar Rapids ranks 14th Best Run City in America in 2020, moving up from 2019 when we were ranked the 15th best-run city in America and 23rd for quality of City services.
Cedar Rapids was ranked one of the best cities to start from scratch because of our great job and social opportunities.
Awarded the 2020 Most Caring City in Iowa. Cedar Rapids has the highest share of individuals working in altruistic fields statewide, including social work, healthcare, counseling, firefighting, teaching, and more.
Business Insider named Cedar Rapids #11 in the top American cities to live in after the pandemic.
Cedar Rapids Named #2 Most Recession-Resistant City 2020
Cedar Rapids was named a 'mini megacity to watch' 2020
Cedar Rapids is listed as one of the best places to relocate for people seeking a tight-knit community centered around residents in the 2020 Livability.com article 6 Reasons to Leave the Big City - and Where to Live Instead.
Cedar Rapids was named one of the least sinful cities in the nation 2020
Cedar Rapids ranked #13 Best Cities to Buy a House in America 2020.
Cedar Rapids ranked Best City to Live and Work 2020 by Zippia.com
Cedar Rapids named #18 in the ranking of Safest Cities in America 2019.
Cedar Rapids ranks #34 of Cities with the Most Affordable Homes in the US for 2020. The study found that 96 percent of homes are affordable for the average household living here.
Cedar Rapids was named #2 on the list of the Ten Best Home Base Cities for Road Trippers.
Named #16 Most Livable Mid-Sized Cities 2019.
Cedar Rapids is #8 in the ranking of Top 10 Cities for Living the American Dream.
Cedar Rapids was named the #4 on the list of Best American Cities to work in Tech 2019.
Cedar Rapids made Money's list of Top 100 Best Place to Live 2019.
Cedar Rapids was ranked #50 Best Places to Live in the US by Livability in 2019.
The City of Cedar Rapids has been recognized with a Walk Friendly Bronze Designation by the Walk Friendly Communities program. Cedar Rapids is the only community in Iowa to have this distinction, and one of only four communities across the country to receive a designation for this round.
Cedar Rapids earned a Certified 4-STAR Community designation from the STAR Communities organization for comprehensive sustainability efforts. STAR Communities is the leading, national framework for measuring and designating community performance. Learn more about STAR:
- STAR Report – This STAR-provided document gives a great look into Cedar Rapids’ successes, opportunities, and comparison with other cities.
- STAR Infographic – Offers a glimpse into the City’s STAR success and context for completing the assessment.
- Sustainable City Government Timeline – This document provides a look at past and future sustainability efforts.
Cedar Rapids scored a perfect 100 on the Municipal Equality Index Scorecard.
Cedar Rapids ranked #18 Most Secure Place to Live for mid-sized cities in the U.S. (Farmers Insurance Group)
Cedar Rapids ranked #12 Best Cities to Buy a House in America by Niche.com
Cedar Rapids was named the Technology Community of the Year (Large) by the Technology Association of Iowa.
Cedar Rapids received a Healthy Hometown Community Award, recognizing accomplishments in health improvement initiatives.
Cedar Rapids ranked #15 in the nation of the most popular cities in America to relocate to.
Cedar Rapids was ranked #16 in the nation and was recognized as one of eight medium-sized metro areas with a high density of Inc. 5000 companies. Each year, Inc. Magazine publishes its list of the fastest-growing businesses in America—the Inc. 5000. To qualify, companies must be independent, privately-owned, located in the United States, and meet certain revenue thresholds. Of qualifying companies, those with the fastest three-year revenue growth rates are selected. Inc. 5000 firms exhibit very high growth compared with their peers, which makes them vital to the economy.
Iowa ranked #1 state in the country by U.S. News and World Report.
Cedar Rapids ranked #2 in the list of Top 10 Places for Teachers by SmartAsset.
Iowa named the best state in the nation for retirement by MoneyRates.com.
Cedar Rapids named All-America City by the National Civic League. The award shines a spotlight on trail-blazing efforts to bring all aspects of a community together to tackle the most pressing local issues. Our application and presentation focused on recovery efforts after the flood of 2008. Cedar Rapids was also awarded the first-ever social media award for creative use of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to tell the story of Cedar Rapids and encourage community engagement during the competition.
- View a short video about the Cedar Rapids All-America City award
- View the Cedar Rapids award-winning presentation
Cedar Rapids was designated the 15th certified Blue Zones Community® in the nation
Cedar Rapids made the top ten 2017 Best Cities for New Grads rated by GoodCall.com
Cedar Rapids ranked #4 in SmartAsset's Best Cities of 2016
Cedar Rapids named #3 Happiest City in America
Cedar Rapids ranked #6 on the top 10 list of best American cities for technology workers.
Cedar Rapids named #8 on the list of top ten Best Affordable Places to Live, by Livability.com
Cedar Rapids ranked #6 top city for living the American Dream
Cedar Rapids #88 in Top 100 Best Places to Live by Livability.com
Cedar Rapids named #7 Best City to Make a Living
Google named Cedar Rapids the 2015 eCity of Iowa. The award recognizes the strongest online business communities in each state as the digital capitals of America.
Cedar Rapids ranked #9 for Top 10 Best Places to Retire 2013 in Livability.com's "Top 10 Best Places to Retire" ranking. (Livability.com)
Cedar Rapids is one of the Top 10 Fourth Economy Communities, according to Fourth Economy Consulting. Linn County is ranked #4 because we are ideally positioned to attract modern investment and managed economic growth. (Fourth Economy Community Index)
Cedar Rapids is one of America's Best Cities on the Rise, according to Smarter Travel. We ranked #11 as an exceptional, up-and-coming destination offering more than meets the eye. (Smarter Travel.com)
Cedar Rapids is one of the Best Places for Affordable Homes, according to CNN, Fortune and Money magazine. We ranked #4 for median home price and median family income. (CNNMoney.com)
Cedar Rapids is one of the Best Places for Business & Careers, according to Forbes magazine. Our city is ranked #33 out of the 200 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S., based on the cost of doing business, job growth, education, employment, housing and quality of life. (Forbes.com)
Cedar Rapids' Job Growth has Topped National Levels by 7 %, according to TIME magazine. We are considered a growing boomtown. (TIME)
Cedar Rapids is one of the top 12 Best Cities for High Paying Jobs, according to Kiplinger. We are ranked #7 because of our below-average unemployment and above-average income growth. (Kiplinger)
