Forget NYC and LA. Here are 6 underrated small cities

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Forget NYC and LA. Here are 6 underrated small cities

Thinking of trading skyscrapers for a liveable downtown, shorter commutes, and a richer local scene? You don’t have to move to a big metro center to get galleries, festivals, good restaurants, and reliable services. Plenty of smaller U.S. cities combine surprising cultural depth with manageable costs and commutes. Below, Find a Neighborhood explores six small cities that strike a balance between culture, commute, and cost.

How We Score These Cities

Not all “small cities” are created equal, so there needs to be a clear way to compare them. Find a Neighborhood looked at three big factors—culture, commute, and cost—and gave each city a 1-5 star rating based on how they stack up against national averages and lifestyle benchmarks.

Culture

For this category, both the breadth and accessibility of cultural life were considered.

That includes museums, galleries, theaters, live-music venues, festivals, and food scenes, but also how easy it is for residents to participate. A small city that hosts nationally known festivals, maintains active local arts districts, or has a vibrant dining scene scores higher.

Additionally, “everyday culture”—walkable downtowns, farmers’ markets, and a strong sense of local identity.

Commute

Nobody wants to trade one kind of stress for another, so commute times and transportation matter.

Find a Neighborhood factored in:

• Average commute times from Census data: shorter = better.
• Walkability and bikeability: derived from Walk Score or local planning reports.
• Transit availability: buses, light rail, or commuter shuttles.
• Accessibility: whether it’s easy to get to larger regional hubs or airports.

Cities where you can reasonably live without a car, or where the average commute time is well below the national average (about 26 minutes), ranked higher.

Cost

Affordability can make or break relocation plans. Here’s what was considered:

• Median home prices and rental costs.
• Overall cost-of-living indexes compared to the U.S. average.
• Local tax factors, like state income or property tax rates.

Since housing is the largest expense for most households, places where housing remains below or near the national average scored higher.

6 Small Cities That Win on Culture, Commute, and Cost

If you’re craving the art, food, and entertainment of a bigger metro but without the sky-high housing prices or bumper-to-bumper traffic, these small cities deserve a spot on your radar.

Each one offers its own mix of cultural perks, easy commutes, and manageable costs; proof that you don’t need millions of neighbors to enjoy a vibrant, connected lifestyle.

1. Asheville, NC

• Culture: 5/5
• Commute: 4/5
• Cost: 2/5

Asheville is a compact arts-and-food town tucked in the Blue Ridge foothills. It punches above its weight culturally. The Biltmore Estate and rotating national-tier exhibits, a large River Arts District with hundreds of working artists, a busy live-music calendar, and a thriving independent-restaurant scene make this a year-round cultural destination.

The downtown area and several neighborhoods are highly walkable, which keeps everyday errands easy and makes local life feel small-town but stimulating. That said, Asheville’s popularity has pushed housing prices above the national average in recent years.

2. Chattanooga, TN

• Culture: 4/5
• Commute: 4/5
• Cost: 4/5

Chattanooga has deliberately transformed its riverfront and downtown into a compact cultural core, featuring the Hunter Museum and the Bluff View Art District, as well as frequent outdoor festivals and a burgeoning culinary scene.

Walkable downtown neighborhoods and the Riverwalk make daily life pleasant, and overall housing costs tend to be lower than in many coastal cities. Tennessee’s lack of a state income tax is another affordability plus (though sales taxes vary by locale). Commuting in the city is typically shorter than the U.S. average.

3. Greenville, SC

• Culture: 4/5
• Commute: 4/5
• Cost: 4/5

Greenville’s downtown has been revitalized around Falls Park on the Reedy and a walkable Main Street full of restaurants, small theaters, and festivals. The city has become a notable regional hub for food and craft breweries, and cultural programming at venues like the Peace Center keeps arts options steady.

Compared to many large metros, Greenville’s cost of living and housing tend to be more affordable, although prices have been rising as the city draws more attention.

4. Fort Collins, CO

• Culture: 4/5
• Commute: 4/5
• Cost: 3/5

Fort Collins blends a lively Old Town (think independent music venues, craft breweries, college-town energy from Colorado State University) with lots of outdoor access. Festivals like NewWestFest and a strong local arts calendar give the town cultural heft without the congestion of bigger Colorado metros.

Fort Collins’ downtown and Old Town score very high for walkability, and the city has invested in bike infrastructure—a huge bonus if you prefer two wheels over four. Housing is pricier than in many of the Southern towns listed here, reflecting Colorado’s demand, but commutes are reasonable.

5. Santa Fe, NM

• Culture: 5/5
• Commute: 3/5
• Cost: 3/5

If you prioritize arts and culture above all, Santa Fe is truly unique: a centuries-old arts scene, Canyon Road’s galleries, the Santa Fe Opera, museums like the New Mexico Museum of Art, and regular markets and festivals create an all-season cultural calendar that most small cities can’t match. The city is compact, and many central neighborhoods are walkable; however, it’s more geographically isolated than the other picks, which can mean fewer transit options and longer drives to larger airports or specialized services. Housing and living costs sit in the mid-range relative to national averages (with some local variation).

6. Madison, WI

• Culture: 4/5
• Commute: 4/5
• Cost: 3/5

Madison combines vibrant cultural life with a compact, walkable downtown and a strong sense of community. The city has a rich arts scene, from the Overture Center for the Arts and Broom Street Theater to major events like Art Fair on the Square and the Wisconsin Film Festival. With the University of Wisconsin nearby, music, theater, and culinary offerings are abundant, giving small-city life a big-city flavor.

Tips for Learning More About Cities You’re Interested In

Once you’ve narrowed down a few places that catch your eye, the next step is digging deeper. Visiting in person is ideal, but even from afar, you can learn a lot about what daily life looks like before making a big move.

• Visit like you live there. Book a few days in a neighborhood you’re considering, shop at local grocery stores, take transit, and time a commute at the hour you’d travel to work.
• Check multiple data points. Compare Census QuickFacts, local chamber of commerce reports, Walk Score for neighborhood-level walkability, and DataUSA for housing and earnings snapshots.
• Look at seasonality. Small-city culture can be more seasonal (festival weekends, summer music). Check an events calendar to see whether the city feels lively year-round.
• Search properties by neighborhood. If you’re looking for a new place to call home, try using a property search tool while you explore different cities. You can filter for commute time, school zones, and walkable downtown blocks. Look for something that offers neighborhood-level searches to compare multiple listing sources and view differences in pricing trends.
• Talk to locals online. Local subreddits, Nextdoor (public posts), and city Facebook groups can reveal the unfiltered day-to-day reality—traffic pain points, winter weather handling, or which neighborhoods have the best coffee shops.

Final Thoughts

If your priority is culture, look for places with concentrated arts districts and year-round programming, such as Santa Fe and Asheville. If commute and walkability are the priority, downtown-focused small cities with good bike lanes and compact cores (e.g., Fort Collins and Greenville) shine. And if staying budget-friendly is the most important factor, cities with lower median housing prices and favorable tax structures are worth a hard look.

At the end of the day, no city is perfect—but that’s part of the adventure! Whether you’re drawn to mountain views, music festivals, foodie neighborhoods, or simply the idea of spending less time in traffic, there’s a small city out there calling your name.

This story was produced by Find a Neighborhood and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.