These cities have the highest — and lowest — satisfaction rates
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
People living in San Antonio, San Diego and Raleigh, North Carolina, have particularly high satisfaction rates with their city, a new survey finds.
Why it matters: "Satisfaction" is broad, but works as a general vibe check on how people are feeling about job opportunities, housing costs, safety and other key urban issues.
By the numbers: San Antonio tops the list, with just over 78% of residents saying they're "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with the Alamo City.
- San Diego (about 76%), Raleigh (76%) and Minneapolis (75%) follow.
The other side: Folks in Baltimore (50%), Philadelphia (59%) and Portland, Oregon (60%) report relatively low city satisfaction rates.
How it works: That's based on a Gensler survey of about 13,500 residents across 27 major U.S cities conducted between July and November 2024.
- The findings are part of a broader report from the design and architecture firm's research wing, City Pulse 2025: The Magnetic City, an annual dive into how urban residents feel about a host of issues.
Between the lines: Some of the cities with relatively low satisfaction rates also have relatively high rates of young adults who say they're planning to move out, Gensler found.
What they're saying: "The biggest vulnerabilities for U.S. cities are cost of living and safety," Sofia Song, global leader of cities research at Gensler's Research Institute, tells Axios.
- People are "choosing cities that are more affordable and safer, and where they feel like they can actually age in place," Song adds.
💬 Thought bubble, from Axios San Antonio's Madalyn Mendoza and Megan Stringer: "We've got the good food, the charm, and prices that still make sense — most of the time."
- "The only downside might be our summers."
