Denver tumbled precipitously down in the latest U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Places To Live” survey.

The city ranked No. 99 in the 2023-24 survey released Tuesday — down 44 places from last year’s No. 55.

Just three years ago, Boulder and Denver took the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively, on the magazine’s 2020 list. Boulder took the No. 4 spot this year, while Colorado Springs is No. 9 and Fort Collins is No. 23.

Devon Thorsby, U.S. News & World Report’s real estate editor who oversaw the report, said the reason behind Denver’s lower rankings is the cost to live in the city.

“Denver is becoming, on the whole, one of the more expensive places to live,” Thorsby said in an interview with The Denver Gazette.

Denver is the 16th most expensive place to live in the U.S, according to the report’s index. U.S. News & World Report’s data shows the cost of Denver’s median home stands at $642,437, compared to the U.S. average of $365,616.

“This was the biggest factor impacting Denver’s drop,” Thorsby said.

Median Home Sale Price Data from Redfin.com

To determine the Best Places to Live rankings, U.S. News & World Report said it looks at data on America’s 150 most populous metro areas, including the cost of living, job market, crime rates, quality of education, climate and more.

The rankings are determined by data that U.S. News & World Report collects from the U.S. Census Bureau, the FBI, the U.S. Department of Labor and their ‘own internal resources,'” according to the magazine’s page on the survey’s methodology.

Housing is one of several parts of its “Value Index” calculations, which include additional expenses to live in an area compared to the median income.

“The Value Index measures how comfortably the average resident of each metro area can afford to live within their means,” the report says.

The best place to live, according to the publication, is Green Bay, Wisc.

“Green Bay offers affordability, quality of life and a tightknit community in this small metro area,” the magazine’s editors wrote.  

It was followed by Huntsville, Ala., and Raleigh & Durham, N.C. on the list.

Boulder’s No. 4 ranking wasn’t affected as much by its housing costs due to the higher median income.

Thorsby said Boulder didn’t score well for affordability, either.

“The threshold for living in Boulder is a lot higher. It is certainly an aspect people should consider,” she said.

Denver also ranked high on the survey in an undesirable category: Crime. It was listed as the 15th most dangerous place to live in the U.S.

When asked about the effect of crime on Denver’s rank, Thorsby said: “It is a smaller slice of the whole [rankings] pie, but it certainly didn’t have a positive impact on Denver’s overall score.”

Since 2020, when Denver stood at No. 2 overall on the list, violent crime rose 27% from 1,733 incidents to 2,259 in Denver. (The 2023 total of 2,256 is year-to-date as of May 14, 2023.) Property crimes, meanwhile, rose from 10,383 to 14,424 in the same span, according to the city of Denver’s Crime Dashboard.

Despite the higher costs overall, Thorsby pointed to the city’s spot at No. 13 out of 115 in how happy Denverites are to live in Denver. Part of that contentment might be linked to the ease of finding a job. Denver was No. 15 in the magazine’s job market rankings.

The Denver Gazette contacted the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce for comment, but did not receive a reply.

Top Ten Best Places to Live in 2023, according to U.S. News and World Report

1. Green Bay, Wisconsin

2. Huntsville, Alabama

3. Raleigh & Durham, North Carolina

4. Boulder, Colorado

5. Sarasota, Florida

6. Naples, Florida

7. Portland, Maine

8. Charlotte, North Carolina

9. Colorado Springs, Colorado

10. Fayetteville, Arkansas