Of all the “best of” lists Austin makes, this one warms my heart the most. Movoto recently looked at the most caring cities in the US and named the top 10. Living in Austin, I’ve witnessed the outpouring of support for several charities and causes around the city. My experience is most Austinites are incredibly generous and willing to help those in need, even if they don’t have everything they need.
What Criteria was Used to Determine Most Caring Cities in the US?
Movoto wanted to consider all sorts of caring, whether it be for veterans, animals, the poor, the environment or those just feeling down on their luck. Cities that cared the most for the most number of things got higher rankings. Here is the list of the criteria they used to come up with their list of the most caring cities in the US.
- Student-counselor ratio
- Charitable donations by percent of income
- Crimes per 100,000 people (the lower the better)
- Pet shelters and rescue per capita
- Homeless services per capita
- Mental health counselors and therapists per capita
- Percent of workers who carpool (caring for the environment)
- Facebook Likes for “charities and causes” per capita
Austin Ranked 2nd on the Most Caring Cities in the US List
It is clear Austinites care. And, they care about more than one thing. Recently named Dog Town USA and #12 with the number of pet shelters, Austin loves pets. Austin has a No Kill shelter policy and is able to abide by it 90% of the time. Austin also is known for it’s homeless services (#11 per capita in the nation), numerous mental health professionals (#14 per capita in the nation) and low crime rate. Austinites also aren’t afraid to share their caring on Facebook and had the 13th most Facebook likes and shares for charities and causes.
Top 10 Most Caring Cities in the US
How did the rest of the list shakeout? Here are the 10 most caring cities in the US according to Movoto:
- Atlanta, GA
- Austin, TX
- Tucson, AZ
- Baton Rouge, LA
- New Orleans, LA
- Las Vegas, NV
- Santa Ana, CA
- Birmingham, AL
- Nashville, TN
- Durham, NC
You can read the rest of the list here.
Austinites Do Really Care
Austinites for the most part are generally happy, which might have something to do with the amount of sun we get and our mild weather. Coming from a pretty angry city and having visited angry cities often, it is nice to live in a town surrounded by genuinely nice, caring people. Honestly, the friendliness of the people was one of the reasons we left San Francisco and moved to Austin. Having gone to college in Atlanta (coincidentally, the most caring city in the US) and Chris growing up in Atlanta, it was hard to move to a city where no one even turned around to see if someone was coming to hold the door. After about the 1,000th time of having a door slam in my face, along with generally having to fight for everything in San Francisco, we were just done. Though San Francisco is friendly compared to cities like New York and Philadelphia, it was still enough to know that’s not how we wanted to live. Now that we’ve relocated to a more caring city, I can honestly say I am happier for it.
Considering Relocating to Austin?
We don’t blame you! We relocated to Austin from San Francisco about 6 years ago and love it here. Here are the top 10 reasons we decided to relocate to Austin from San Francisco. Not only have we made the move ourselves, we have helped many families do the same and they are all happy with where they ended up. We know how to help you find the type of neighborhood you’re looking for, so you can focus on meeting new friends and living life. For more info, check out our Austin Relocation Blog and our Guide to Relocating to Austin to learn more about why we are the best Realtors to help you relocate to Austin. Then, call us at (512) 827-8323, email us at info@11OaksRealty.com or fill out our Relocation Survey to schedule a no obligation consultation.
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