Most climate-resilient cities (2023)
Before moving somewhere new and taking out a mortgage, consider how climate change will affect the location and its future property value.
Unfortunately, there’s nowhere to hide from the effects of climate change. Every region in the United States has experienced rising temperatures, extreme weather patterns, and greater damage from natural disasters. Most experts predict that many areas will be unlivable by 2050, which is well within the scope of a 30-year mortgage. While some U.S. cities are better prepared to weather climate change’s effects, other locations are more likely to suffer based on geography and a lack of infrastructure and preparation.
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We identified 14 factors to quantify a given city’s climate resilience using reliable data sources. For example, we obtained population data from the U.S. Census Bureau, weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and risk and readiness scores from the University of Notre Dame’s Urban Adaptation Assessment. Here are the factors we considered and why they’re important.
- Population: Areas with lower populations are less likely to overtax existing resources as more residents move in.
- Elevation and projected sea level rise: The higher a city is above sea level, the less susceptible it is to rising oceans.
- Extreme weather: We looked at occurrences of tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, wildfires, droughts, and excessive heat and cold since 2012 to see where weather events are becoming more severe.
- UND UAA Risk score: This number measures an urban environment’s exposure to flooding, the vulnerability of its people and buildings, and its ability to provide health care.
- UND UAA Readiness score: This number measures an urban environment’s social, economic, and governmental engagement concerning climate change and overall adaptability.
- Air quality index: We measured the number of days in 2022 when each city had good-quality air.
- Clean energy ranking: This is determined by the percentage of power use provided by green energy sources such as solar, water, and wind.
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3 Best Cities for Climate Change
As you might expect, our top-ranked cities had a few things in common. They were likely to have lower populations, higher elevations, fewer adverse weather conditions, and lower overall risks. However, even the top three cities have significant variation when it comes to their strongest factors. Our top 10 cities are located in nine states with widely varying elevations. Here are the three with the highest scores.
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