Oct 12, 2026

39 Cities Where Money Buys The Highest Quality of Life

Money really can buy happiness, if you earn enough of it. A new MoneyLion study has identified 39 U.S. cities where you can truly obtain and enjoy a high quality of life if you make anywhere from $101,000 to upwards of $200,000+ annually.

To find these cities, MoneyLion researchers studied AreaVibes’ “Best Places To Live in America” and sourced each locale’s livability score and median household income. All cities with a median income under $100,000 and livability score below 80 were eliminated, as these do not represent cities with the highest quality of life. For the remaining cities, we scored these two factors and combined them with the highest score being best.

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Additional supplemental data includes each city’s average home value and annual cost of necessities and groceries.

Key Findings

All five top-ranked cities have a median household income of $230,000 or more, roughly three times what the typical U.S. household earns.
Home prices are the great divider. The typical home in the top five ranges from about $940,000 in Western Springs, Illinois to more than $3.1 million in Cupertino.
Two Massachusetts suburbs hold the top two spots. Lexington and Winchester both pay about $230,000-$240,000, but necessities eat up nearly 60% of that.
Eight New Jersey cities appeared in the ranking, the most of any U.S. state. The cities and their ranks are Glen Ridge (#3), Westfield (#6), Ridgewood (#9), Princeton (#12), Waldwick (#15), Summit (#17), Madison (#25) and New Providence (#36).
No Florida or Texas cities appeared in the ranking.

Keep scrolling to see the 39 U.S. cities where money buys the highest quality of life.

1. Lexington, Massachusetts

Median household income: $238,444
Average home value: $1,656,086
Annual cost of necessities: $138,267
Annual grocery costs: $7,332
Livability score: 92

2. Winchester, Massachusetts

Median household income: $230,198
Average home value: $1,683,012
Annual cost of necessities: $139,948
Annual grocery costs: $7,375
Livability score: 91

3. Glen Ridge, New Jersey

Median household income: $250,000
Average home value: $1,225,544
Annual cost of necessities: $112,451
Annual grocery costs: $6,828
Livability score: 88

4. Western Springs, Illinois

Median household income: $230,255
Average home value: $938,192
Annual cost of necessities: $89,147
Annual grocery costs: $6,504
Livability score: 89

5. Cupertino, California

Median household income: $234,707
Average home value: $3,134,012
Annual cost of necessities: $241,704
Annual grocery costs: $7,562
Livability score: 87

6. Westfield, New Jersey

Median household income: $232,629
Average home value: $1,339,576
Annual cost of necessities: $119,651
Annual grocery costs: $6,896
Livability score: 87

7. Snoqualmie, Washington

Median household income: $214,107
Average home value: $1,110,531
Annual cost of necessities: $101,155
Annual grocery costs: $6,709
Livability score: 89

8. Bothell East, Washington

Median household income: $198,882
Average home value: $1,030,623
Annual cost of necessities: $93,798
Annual grocery costs: $6,641
Livability score: 90

9. Ridgewood, New Jersey

Median household income: $208,211
Average home value: $1,283,454
Annual cost of necessities: $116,146
Annual grocery costs: $6,921
Livability score: 88

10. Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin

Median household income: $157,109
Average home value: $676,976
Annual cost of necessities: $69,487
Annual grocery costs: $6,342
Livability score: 95

11. Vienna, Virginia

Median household income: $216,953
Average home value: $1,201,975
Annual cost of necessities: $108,304
Annual grocery costs: $7,245
Livability score: 84

12. Princeton, New Jersey

Median household income: $192,079
Average home value: $1,061,301
Annual cost of necessities: $97,885
Annual grocery costs: $7,164
Livability score: 87

13. Bothell West, Washington

Median household income: $153,449
Average home value: $1,030,623
Annual cost of necessities: $93,453
Annual grocery costs: $6,597
Livability score: 91

14. Hudson, Ohio

Median household income: $171,427
Average home value: $576,081
Annual cost of necessities: $61,417
Annual grocery costs: $6,554
Livability score: 88

15. Waldwick, New Jersey

Median household income: $177,962
Average home value: $774,066
Annual cost of necessities: $79,844
Annual grocery costs: $6,635
Livability score: 87

16. Worthington, Ohio

Median household income: $127,382
Average home value: $514,776
Annual cost of necessities: $58,093
Annual grocery costs: $6,436
Livability score: 94

17. Summit, New Jersey

Median household income: $190,304
Average home value: $1,505,097
Annual cost of necessities: $130,338
Annual grocery costs: $7,027
Livability score: 84

18. Issaquah, Washington

Median household income: $154,669
Average home value: $1,290,509
Annual cost of necessities: $112,874
Annual grocery costs: $6,772
Livability score: 89

19. Ardmore, Pennsylvania

Median household income: $119,111
Average home value: $534,796
Annual cost of necessities: $61,577
Annual grocery costs: $6,759
Livability score: 94

20. East Honolulu, Hawaii

Median household income: $159,518
Average home value: $1,284,439
Annual cost of necessities: $120,528
Annual grocery costs: $9,062
Livability score: 88

21. Solon, Ohio

Median household income: $139,089
Average home value: $474,165
Annual cost of necessities: $54,382
Annual grocery costs: $6,461
Livability score: 91

22. Malverne, New York

Median household income: $149,489
Average home value: $819,235
Annual cost of necessities: $87,841
Annual grocery costs: $6,716
Livability score: 89

23. Larchmont, New York

Median household income: $167,536
Average home value: $1,978,364
Annual cost of necessities: $165,655
Annual grocery costs: $7,220
Livability score: 86

24. Birmingham, Michigan

Median household income: $153,510
Average home value: $866,182
Annual cost of necessities: $82,676
Annual grocery costs: $6,548
Livability score: 88

25. Madison, New Jersey

Median household income: $171,471
Average home value: $1,114,676
Annual cost of necessities: $103,681
Annual grocery costs: $6,890
Livability score: 85

26. Arlington, Massachusetts

Median household income: $150,701
Average home value: $1,194,400
Annual cost of necessities: $106,708
Annual grocery costs: $7,133
Livability score: 88

27. Camp Hill, Pennsylvania

Median household income: $115,761
Average home value: $337,368
Annual cost of necessities: $46,759
Annual grocery costs: $6,485
Livability score: 93

28. Hewlett, New York

Median household income: $140,765
Average home value: $1,025,709
Annual cost of necessities: $101,663
Annual grocery costs: $6,840
Livability score: 89

29. Berkley, Michigan

Median household income: $116,239
Average home value: $317,294
Annual cost of necessities: $45,200
Annual grocery costs: $6,062
Livability score: 92

30. Verona, Wisconsin

Median household income: $119,606
Average home value: $607,984
Annual cost of necessities: $64,856
Annual grocery costs: $6,274
Livability score: 91

31. Rockville Centre, New York

Median household income: $151,938
Average home value: $1,040,105
Annual cost of necessities: $103,209
Annual grocery costs: $6,859
Livability score: 86

32. Fort Thomas, Kentucky

Median household income: $104,350
Average home value: $386,661
Annual cost of necessities: $49,800
Annual grocery costs: $6,299
Livability score: 93

33. Brookfield, Illinois

Median household income: $110,295
Average home value: $367,073
Annual cost of necessities: $49,771
Annual grocery costs: $6,050
Livability score: 92

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34. Sherwood, Oregon

Median household income: $109,966
Average home value: $637,456
Annual cost of necessities: $68,105
Annual grocery costs: $6,404
Livability score: 92

35. Ankeny, Iowa

Median household income: $108,198
Average home value: $350,247
Annual cost of necessities: $46,439
Annual grocery costs: $6,230
Livability score: 92

36. New Providence, New Jersey

Median household income: $161,599
Average home value: $1,023,259
Annual cost of necessities: $97,305
Annual grocery costs: $6,834
Livability score: 84

37. Raleigh Hills, Oregon

Median household income: $120,000
Average home value: $947,100
Annual cost of necessities: $88,711
Annual grocery costs: $6,579
Livability score: 89

38. Clayton, Missouri

Median household income: $123,000
Average home value: $1,166,481
Annual cost of necessities: $102,367
Annual grocery costs: $6,815
Livability score: 85

39. Cedarhurst, New York

Median household income: $101,572
Average home value: $1,309,228
Annual cost of necessities: $121,133
Annual grocery costs: $6,971
Livability score: 87

Methodology: For this piece MoneyLion first sourced all the cities from AreaVibes “Best Places to Live in America.” With these cities sourced MoneyLion then found each city’s (1) livability score as sourced from AreaVibes and (2) median household income as sourced from the 2024 American Community Survey as conducted by the US Census Bureau. MoneyLion then eliminated all cities that had a median income below $100,000 and a livability score below 80. For the remaining cities MoneyLion scored these two factors and combined them with the highest score being best. For supplemental data MoneyLion found the total annual cost of necessities (groceries, mortgage, transportation, utilities and healthcare). For mortgage data, MoneyLion first sourced the August 2026 single family residence home value from Zillow and assumed a 30-year fixed rate mortgage at 7.04% as sourced from Freddie Mac. For the other necessities expenditures, MoneyLion found national figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2024 Consumer Expenditure Survey and factored out for each city using Sperling’s Best Places cost of living indices for each respective city and category. All data was collected and is up to date as of September 28, 2026

This article was provided by MoneyLion.com for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice.

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Written by

Heather Taylor

Edited by

Angela Corry