What Livability does

Livability.com is a content-driven digital media platform that ranks and profiles U.S. cities on quality-of-life factors. Its core product is the proprietary LivScore methodology, developed in partnership with Applied Geographic Solutions (AGS), which evaluates over 2,000 U.S. cities against nearly 100 data points across eight categories — housing, economy, safety, transportation, health, environment, education, and lifestyle — producing an annual Top 100 Best Places to Live ranking. The platform complements the ranking with state and city editorial guides, regional best-places lists, branded editorial series (The Moving Diaries, The Cost of Living Diaries, Living The Dream, Southern Pride), and Proxi-powered interactive maps, with content coverage across all 50 states.

The audience is dual-sided. Consumers (individuals and families researching relocation) access content free of charge, discovered primarily through SEO and organic search. The monetizing customers are B2B: cities, economic development organizations, tourism boards, and brand sponsors that pay for sponsored content, digital magazine editions, and the dedicated 'Promote Your City' service operated through livabilitymedia.com. Named sponsorship evidence includes Evonik Corporation and Hargrove Engineers and Constructors.

The company is privately held and operated by Journal Communications, Inc., a diversified media group, with a small 1-10 person team based in Franklin, Tennessee. Founded in 2010, the platform has operated continuously, with no disclosed external funding, no M&A activity, and no AI/ML product capabilities. Revenue mechanics are advertising- and sponsorship-led, with email newsletter as a recurring engagement channel.

Name

Livability

Legal name

Livability - Journal Communications, Inc.

Website

https://livability.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Livability.com is a digital media platform that ranks U.S. cities using a proprietary LivScore methodology and publishes the annual Top 100 Best Places to Live. It serves relocating consumers free of charge and monetizes via advertising, city partnerships, and brand sponsorships under parent Journal Communications, Inc.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Media - City Rankings and Editorial Content

NAICS

Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (51621)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Publishing Platforms (News/Magazines) (BPAMAJAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Newsletter Publishing Platforms (MPACAIAA), Long-Form Writing & Article Platforms (MPACAIAC)

Keywords

• City livability rankings
• Relocation research
• Quality of life data
• City editorial guides
• Economic development marketing

Headquarters

HQ city

Franklin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Advertising & Sponsorships: The platform features sponsored content from cities, economic development organizations, and brands. Sponsored articles and magazine editions are labeled as 'Sponsored by' and appear throughout the site (e.g., 'Sponsored by Evonik Corporation', 'Sponsored by Hargrove Engineers and Constructors').
2. City & Economic Development Partnerships: Partnerships with cities and regional economic development organizations to create promotional digital magazine editions highlighting communities (e.g., 'Promote Your City' service through livabilitymedia.com).
3. Newsletter/Email List: Email newsletter subscription model for user engagement and retention, driving ongoing traffic to the platform.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Livability.com is a digital media platform that produces data-driven city rankings and original editorial content to help users find places to live, work and play across the United States. Its core deliverable is the annual Top 100 Best Places to Live ranking powered by the proprietary LivScore methodology, supplemented by city and state guides, regional best-places lists, and editorial series. Revenue is generated through advertising, sponsored content from cities and brands, and partnerships with economic development organizations rather than direct user fees.

Product overview

Livability.com is a content-driven web platform offering curated rankings and editorial guides to help users find places to live, work and play across the United States. The core product is the annual Top 100 Best Places to Live ranking, powered by the proprietary LivScore rating system developed in partnership with Applied Geographic Solutions (AGS). The platform provides comprehensive city and state guides organized by topics (affordable places, education/careers, experiences, food scenes, healthy places, and more), regional best places lists, and editorial series content. Interactive Proxi-powered maps enable visual exploration of rankings by region and state.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Livability.com Platform A web-based media platform providing curated rankings, city guides, and editorial content to help users find places to live, work and play across the United States, featuring proprietary LivScore ratings and a data partnership with Applied Geographic Solutions.
• Top 100 Best Places to Live Annual curated ranking of small to mid-sized U.S. cities evaluating nearly 100 data points across eight categories including housing, economy, and safety. Cities analyzed must have populations between 75,000 and 500,000 and median home values under $500,000.
• LivScore Proprietary quality-of-life scoring system calculated in partnership with Applied Geographic Solutions (AGS) that rates communities on a scale up to 1,000 across factors such as economics, transportation, health, safety, and real estate. Huntsville, AL earned an 873 score in 2026.
• City and State Guides Comprehensive editorial guides for U.S. states and cities covering topics including where to live, affordable places, education and careers, experiences and adventures, food scenes, healthy places, love where you live, and make your move.
• Regional Best Places Lists Curated regional rankings including Top 25 Best Places to Live in the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and West regions of the United States.
• Editorial Series Content Specialized content series including The Moving Diaries, The Cost of Living Diaries, Living The Dream, and Southern Pride offering first-person narratives and deep dives into living experiences in various communities.
• Promote Your City (livabilitymedia.com) Sponsored promotional digital magazine editions offered to cities and economic development organizations to highlight their communities and attract residents, businesses, and tourism.

Quantifiable outcome

• Livability named Huntsville, AL as #1 Best Place to Live in the U.S. for 2026 with a quality of life score of 873 out of 1,000

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Applied Geographic Solutions (AGS)coreTechnology or IntegrationStrategic data partnership where AGS provides geographic and demographic data used in Livability's proprietary LivScore methodology. AGS data powers the ranking analysis of over 2,000 cities across nearly 100 data points for annual livability rankings. Data sourced from November 2025 release.
• Evonik CorporationminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsored content partnership where Evonik Corporation sponsors content related to their Mobile, Alabama operations and community involvement.
• Hargrove Engineers and ConstructorsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsored content partnership highlighting Hargrove's 30-year presence in Mobile, Alabama as part of the city's business ecosystem coverage.
• Journal Communications, Inc.coreOthersParent company and publisher of Livability.com. Copyright 2010-2026 Livability - Journal Communications, Inc.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Realtor.com: Realtor.com operates local market guides and city data pages as part of its broader real estate platform, competing for high-intent relocation search queries and leveraging its parent company News Corp's media scale.
• Redfin: Redfin integrates neighborhood and city data (including livability factors) directly into its real estate search experience, capturing relocation intent further down the funnel. Its city-guide content competes with Livability for top-of-funnel relocation queries.
• U.S. News & World Report: U.S. News operates authoritative 'Best Places to Live' rankings as part of a much broader news and rankings portfolio. It is a major incumbent competitor for high-intent relocation queries with substantially greater editorial resources, brand authority, and traffic.

Direct peers

• Walk Score: Walk Score publishes walkability, transit, and bike-score data for U.S. addresses and cities and is frequently cited in livability assessments. It serves the same audience of relocation researchers and competes for the same long-tail neighborhood/city search queries.
• Niche.com: Niche.com publishes city and neighborhood rankings with proprietary data on livability, schools, and cost of living, targeting the same 'best places to live' search intent that drives Livability. Both monetize through city/economic-development partnerships and operate curated editorial content alongside data-driven rankings.
• BestPlaces.net: BestPlaces.net is a long-standing direct competitor offering 'Best Places to Live' rankings powered by its own data methodology (originally partnered with Bert Sperling). It targets identical relocating-individual and lifestyle-researcher search intent and monetizes via advertising.
• AreaVibes: AreaVibes produces Livability Scores for U.S. cities and addresses based on similar quality-of-life factors (crime, cost of living, employment, education, weather, housing). It competes head-to-head for the same long-tail city-comparison search queries and shares the same SEO-led, ad-supported business model.
• City-Data.com: City-Data.com aggregates demographic, housing, and quality-of-life data for U.S. cities and is a long-established destination for relocation research. It competes directly with Livability for organic search traffic from users comparing cities on cost of living, crime, and demographics.

Emerging players

• Apartment List: Apartment List publishes city-specific relocation guides and cost-of-living content aimed at apartment renters and movers, overlapping with Livability's relocation-researcher audience and editorial format.
• HomeSnacks: HomeSnacks publishes state and city rankings (best places, worst places, cheapest places) targeted at relocation and real estate researchers. It overlaps with Livability's ranking product but is a smaller, more narrowly focused content property.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Livability
• Facebookfacebook.com/Livability

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Livability