A travel magazine rates Naples just beachy.
Travel + Leisure recently wrote that the Southwest Florida city is the No. 1 U.S. beach town to live in. The magazine cited the personal finance site WalletHub for determining the best beach towns to live in around the United States.
WalletHub ranked them according to 63 indicators, including “affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health and overall quality of life.” WalletHub rated 145 total cities.
The New York City-based monthly publication lauded Naples for its “unbeatable quality of life and relative affordability.”
“Located on Florida’s Paradise Coast along the Gulf of Mexico,” the magazine said in its April issue, “the town offers lots to see and do, including pristine, white-sand beaches and day trips to nearby Everglades National Park.”
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Naples was kicking sand at other cities who rated second-best and lower, with Lahaina, Hawaii, at No. 2; Boca Raton at No. 3; Newport Beach, California, No. 4; and Santa Monica, California, rounding out the top 5.
Bonita Springs was No. 67 and Marco Island was 83rd.
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Other Florida cities to make the top 50 were Sarasota at No. 6; Vero Beach at No. 10; Destin 12; Fernadina Beach 15; Venice 17; Jupiter 21; Satellite Beach No. 24; Atlantic Beach 29; Key Biscayne 30; Stuart 31; St. Augustine 34; Key West 36; Jacksonville Beach 38; North Palm Beach 43; Coral Gables 44; Clearwater 48; and Pensacola 50.
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Naples in recent years has made various “top” lists. Last summer a report generated by Resonance Consultancy, a specialist in the destination-branding industry, ranked Naples No. 2 on its 2020 list of Best Small Cities.
And WalletHub also rated Naples at No. 1 in 2019.
In addition to Everglades National Park cited in the Travel + Leisure story, Collier County is home to other attractions including Big Cypress National Preserve and Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, a short drive from Naples.
In its latest top mark, Naples received a total score of 62.50. Here’s how Naples rated in the categories, with a 1 top and 145 the lowest:
- 30th for “affordability”
- 100th for “weather”
- 69th for “safety”
- 43rd for “economy”
- 84th for “education and health”
- 1st for “quality of life”
