We’re not king of the hill — or top of the heap.
In a popular new ranking of the so-called greatest cities in the country, New York failed to crack the top five — losing out to a string of obviously lesser locales.
The snub came courtesy of Travel + Leisure’s 2025 World’s Best Awards survey, which annually asks its well-heeled — and well-traveled — readers to weigh in on their favorites in multiple categories.
This year, the 180,000 voters seemed to strongly favor smaller cities — elevating little Santa Fe, New Mexico, to first place in the metropolitan marathon with a score of 88.8 out of 100, edging out 12-time blue ribbon winner Charleston, SC.
Urban hubs were rated on several criteria — sights/landmarks, culture, food, friendliness, shopping and value.
For each category, respondents were asked to provide a rating of poor to excellent. Travel + Leisure then calculated the average of the reader responses and gave each city a total score out of 100.
Readers dubbed New Mexico’s capital city a “true gem of a place,” praising its inventive cuisine, natural beauty — the metropolis sits at 7,000 feet above sea level at the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range — as well as its markets and art galleries.
Clocking in second was New Orleans, Louisiana (87.06), with readers honing in on the Big Easy’s kaleidoscopic culinary scene.
Defending champ Charleston, South Carolina, dropped two rungs to third place with a score of 87.01.
Readers focused on the city’s downtown, which retains its period charm, as well as the gorgeous architecture.
“Charleston’s laws of keeping every building under the height of its tallest church, keeps the city unique, quaint and charming,” fawned one.
In fact, T+L readers seemed to be overwhelmingly Southern charmed by cities sitting below the Mason-Dixon line.
Rounding out the top five list were Savannah, Georgia (86.64), and the nation’s capital-adjacent burg of Alexandria, Virginia (85.26).
Meanwhile, for the second year in a row, New York City — home of the most billionaires in the world and TripAdvisor’s number one destination for 2025 — managed an embarrassing eighth place in the rankings, with a score of 83.84.
It notably trailed Greenville, South Carolina, a sleepy upstate town that has enjoyed a surge of development in recent years.
Readers specifically praised NYC’s theater scene, with one respondent gushing, “can’t be beat for quality and variety — even the theaters themselves are beautiful.”
The best cities in the US in 2025
- Santa Fe, New Mexico
- New Orleans, Louisiana
- Charleston, South Carolina
- Savannah, Georgia
- Alexandria, Virginia
- Honolulu, Hawaii
- Greenville, South Carolina
- New York, New York
- Asheville, North Carolina
- Chicago, Illinois
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