The list was compiled by NerdWallet.com, and considered things like work-life balance, affordability, unemployment, poverty and health benefits.
Lifestyle was the main consideration for the study, based on research from Cornell University that found that stress stemming from income instability affected one’s overall wellbeing. NerdWallet also found that working too many hours also caused a great deal of stress.
Using 2012 U.S. census data, the site found that Albuquerque residents pay on average 27 percent of their income on rent, work an average of 38 hours a week and spend an average of 21 minutes commuting to work every day. Only 18 percent of Albuquerque families live below the poverty line, which was a smaller percentage than most of the country’s largest cities, and 85 percent of the city’s population has health insurance. However, Albuquerque’s unemployment rate is 7.6 percent, higher than the current national average.
Robert Ibarra, associate professor of sociology, teaches a sociology of New Mexico class, and said he is familiar with how the state stacks up in many similar studies, although he wasn’t familiar with NerdWallet’s list.
“I’m pretty surprised because we usually end up at the bottom of the list. But in fact, if you look at certain things, we’re really doing pretty well compared to a lot of other places,” Ibarra said.
Ibarra teaches students about the research of urban studies theorist Richard Florida, who is known for his concept of a city’s creative class, and how it affects the economy and urban renewal of a city.
“It turns out that by city size, like Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Cruces, they turn out to be some of the top cities in the country for a labor pool or a population that has all the characteristics of a creative class of people emerging in the workforce,” Ibarra said. “There is some really strong evidence that we are some of the top places to live in the country for people who are coming out of creative career paths.”
Many students seemed unsurprised with the NerdWallet rating for Albuquerque.
Audrey Domski, a junior speech and hearing sciences major, said Albuquerque’s laid-back attitude makes it a relaxing place to live.
“It’s really easy to live here. The cost of rent is really low, and there are no taxes on our groceries,” she said. “Granted, public transportation could be better here, but it’s so easy to commute through the city that it doesn’t take you an hour to drive three miles, and you’re not stuck in traffic all the time.”
She said she loves that while the Duke City is relatively large; it is still surrounded by beautiful nature that is easily accessible. She said she loves the weather, the Sandias, and the friendly nature of Albuquerque people.
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Cullin Coyle, a sophomore biochemistry major, said he has lived in Israel, the Netherlands and Portland. He said that a lot of people overlook the good things Albuquerque has going for it, because there aren’t some of the social scenes and night life that bigger cities have.
He said that people in Albuquerque have different priorities, making it a calmer and less competitive city than other places he’s been.
“I think it’s honestly really cool. It shows that people here are more content to spend $400 a month on their apartment, because they’re thinking, ‘I’m just sleeping there. I’m going to be out at the park with my friends, I’m going to be enjoying the beautiful weather,’” Coyle said.
Domski pointed out that some important things, like the food and the weather, are harder to analyze in a comparative list, but they are just as important to a city’s quality of life.
“You can’t exactly measure happiness. You can’t quantify it at all really, which is cool, because I don’t think you need to,” she said.
Matt Reisen contributed to this article.
Jonathan Baca is the news editor at the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com, or on Twitter @JonGabrielB.
