Avoid the extremes in these metro areas.
How you take to the weather where you live can be a major factor in how much you enjoy living there. U.S. News went on the hunt for the metro areas — out of the 100 largest in the U.S. — with the most moderate temperatures and plenty of sunshine.
We used data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information, factoring in the average number of cloudy days and the average number of days above 90 or below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Those with the fewest cloudy days and the most balanced temperatures made our list. Read on for Best Places to Live in the U.S. for the Weather.
20. Augusta, Georgia
Best Places 2017 Ranking: 72
Metro Population: 580,178
Median Home Price: $138,259
Median Annual Salary: $42,230
Days Below Freezing: 53
Days Above 90 Degrees: 78
Mean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 218
This northern Georgia metro area rounds out the top 20 with an average of just 53 days below freezing and 78 days hitting 90 degrees or more. Augusta is a fairly popular destination for retirees looking to avoid the high cost of living common in many warm-weather spots farther south.
\n","caption":"20. Augusta, Georgia\n Best Places 2017 Ranking: 72 This northern Georgia metro area rounds out the top 20 with an average of just 53 days below freezing and 78 days hitting 90 degrees or more. Augusta is a fairly popular destination for retirees looking to avoid the high cost of living common in many warm-weather spots farther south.\n"},{"type":"photo","media":" 19. Charlotte, North Carolina\n Best Places 2017 Ranking: 14 The Queen City comes in at No. 19 with fewer hot days than Augusta — just 45 annually, on average — and 64 days dropping below freezing.\n"},{"type":"photo","media":" 18. Columbia, South Carolina\n Best Places 2017 Ranking: 56 Between Charlotte and Augusta on a map you’ll find Columbia, our next great place to live for the weather. With a similar number of cold and hot days to Augusta, Columbia sees a little more rainfall in summer and fall. But the city has slightly drier winters and springs compared to Augusta, making the two fairly comparable in terms of weather.\n"},{"type":"photo","media":" 17. Little Rock, Arkansas\n Best Places 2017 Ranking: 38 Moving west but remaining in the south, Arkansas’ capital city typically has 55 days with lows below 32 degrees and 75 days above 90 degrees throughout the year. With 219 days of clear or partly cloudy skies, there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy the weather in Little Rock.\n"},{"type":"ad","media":" 16. Memphis, Tennessee\n Best Places 2017 Ranking: 93 Located along the Mississippi River in southwestern Tennessee, Memphis offers residents an average of 53 days that hit a low temperature below freezing and 68 days that peak above 90 degrees.\n"},{"type":"photo","media":" 15. Greenville, South Carolina\n Best Places 2017 Ranking: 29 Located in the northwestern portion of South Carolina, Greenville enjoys milder weather partly due to its proximity to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Of the 221 days residents can spot some sun throughout the year, a little over half are clear days, with an average of 100 partly cloudy days.\n"},{"type":"photo","media":" 14. Birmingham, Alabama\n Best Places 2017 Ranking: 90 Birmingham comes in at No. 14 with a decent number of both hot and cold days, though residents experience, on average, 10 more days above 90 degrees throughout the year than they endure nights below 32 degrees. With 155 completely cloudy days out of the year, Birmingham residents typically see just 99 fully clear days annually.\n"},{"type":"photo","media":" 12. Modesto, California\n Best Places 2017 Ranking: 99 Tied at No. 12 with its neighbor Stockton, California, Modesto enjoys a good deal of days above 90 degrees, with 82 hot days a year, on average. But cold nights are far less frequent. The Modesto area typically hits freezing temperatures or below 22 days throughout the year.\n"},{"type":"ad","media":" 12. Stockton\n Best Places 2017 Ranking: 98 Similar in population size to Modesto, neighboring Stockton takes the other half of the No. 12 spot for the Best Place to Live for the Weather. With an average of only 104 cloudy days per year, residents are lucky enough to enjoy some sun more than 70 percent of the year.\n"},{"type":"photo","media":" 11. Sacramento, California\n Best Places 2017 Ranking: 66 A bit milder on both the cold and hot ends of the spectrum, Sacramento is about 75 miles north of Stockton and Modesto. The Northern California metro area — and state’s capital city — averages 265 clear or partly cloudy days per year.\n"},{"type":"photo","media":" 10. San Juan, Puerto Rico\n Best Places 2017 Ranking: 100 Puerto Rico’s capital city rounds out the top 10 with 65 days hitting above 90 degrees, but no days dipping below freezing temperatures. San Juan’s location in the Caribbean means it has an elevated risk of storms during hurricane season. But those storms certainly aren’t the whole story, as the San Juan area averages 276 clear or partly cloudy days annually.\n"},{"type":"photo","media":" 9. Atlanta\n Best Places 2017 Ranking: 50 Atlanta gets some cool nights and its fair share of hot days, but those almost completely cancel each other out across an entire year. With an average of 149 cloudy days per year, Georgia’s capital has more gloomy days than others on the list, but the sun is certainly present most days.\n"},{"type":"ad","media":" 8. Tulsa, Oklahoma\n Best Places 2017 Ranking: 59 The first of two Oklahoma metro areas on the list, Tulsa comes in at No. 8 with a difference of just three days between the average nights dipping below freezing and average days peaking at 90 degrees or above.\n"},{"type":"photo","media":" 7. Washington, D.C.\n Best Places 2017 Ranking: 4 Getting both the cold of winter and the blistering heat of summer, the District of Columbia has just enough balance that residents can find something to complain about in all seasons. The nation’s capital is also the northernmost metro area to make the list, though it doesn’t experience quite as many below-freezing lows as the place that takes the No. 6 spot.\n"},{"type":"photo","media":" 6. Oklahoma City\n Best Places 2017 Ranking: 36 While Oklahoma City experiences plenty of of cold nights and hot days, a near-even balance between the two makes either extreme seem more tolerable from a full-year view. Of those 235 days where residents see at least some sun, 139 of those, on average, are completely clear.\n"},{"type":"photo","media":" 5. Los Angeles\n Best Places 2017 Ranking: 88 Not the only SoCal metro area on the list, Los Angeles averages just 103 cloudy days per year. With no nights of freezing temperatures and 21 days over 90 degrees, the City of Angels makes for a great place to enjoy warm weather without extremes.\n"},{"type":"ad","media":" 4. Honolulu\n Best Places 2017 Ranking: 46 That tropical vacation wasn’t too good to be true — Hawaii’s weather really is that nice all the time. Honolulu’s island location is the perfect spot if you want to avoid freezing lows at night and experience few days above 90 degrees.\n"},{"type":"photo","media":" 2. San Jose, California\n Best Places 2017 Ranking: 3
\nMetro Population: 580,178
\nMedian Home Price: $138,259
\nMedian Annual Salary: $42,230
\nDays Below Freezing: 53
\nDays Above 90 Degrees: 78
\nMean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 218\n
\n","caption":"
\nMetro Population: 2,338,792
\nMedian Home Price: $189,508
\nMedian Annual Salary: $48,370
\nDays Below Freezing: 64
\nDays Above 90 Degrees: 45
\nMean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 214\n
\n","caption":"
\nMetro Population: 792,530
\nMedian Home Price: $140,483
\nMedian Annual Salary: $42,200
\nDays Below Freezing: 55
\nDays Above 90 Degrees: 77
\nMean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 218\n
\n","caption":"
\nMetro Population: 722,684
\nMedian Home Price: $152,267
\nMedian Annual Salary: $42,530
\nDays Below Freezing: 55
\nDays Above 90 Degrees: 75
\nMean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 219\n
\n","caption":"
\nMetro Population: 1,340,336
\nMedian Home Price: $153,641
\nMedian Annual Salary: $41,880
\nDays Below Freezing: 53
\nDays Above 90 Degrees: 68
\nMean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 214\n
\n","caption":"
\nMetro Population: 852,631
\nMedian Home Price: $155,478
\nMedian Annual Salary: $41,010
\nDays Below Freezing: 61
\nDays Above 90 Degrees: 40
\nMean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 221\n
\n","caption":"
\nMetro Population: 1,138,476
\nMedian Home Price: N\/A
\nMedian Annual Salary: $45,590
\nDays Below Freezing: 51
\nDays Above 90 Degrees: 61
\nMean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 210\n
\n","caption":"
\nMetro Population: 791,252
\nMedian Home Price: $236,235
\nMedian Annual Salary: $44,047
\nDays Below Freezing: 22
\nDays Above 90 Degrees: 82
\nMean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 261\n
\n","caption":"
\nMetro Population: 708,554
\nMedian Home Price: $288,421
\nMedian Annual Salary: $45,330
\nDays Below Freezing: 22
\nDays Above 90 Degrees: 82
\nMean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 261\n
\n","caption":"
\nMetro Population: 2,221,525
\nMedian Home Price: $323,833
\nMedian Annual Salary: $53,340
\nDays Below Freezing: 18
\nDays Above 90 Degrees: 73
\nMean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 265\n
\n","caption":"
\nMetro Population: 2,263,582
\nMedian Home Price: N\/A
\nMedian Annual Salary: $29,050
\nDays Below Freezing: 0
\nDays Above 90 Degrees: 65
\nMean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 276\n
\n","caption":"
\nMetro Population: 5,535,837
\nMedian Home Price: $194,856
\nMedian Annual Salary: $49,430
\nDays Below Freezing: 44
\nDays Above 90 Degrees: 43
\nMean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 217\n
\n","caption":"
\nMetro Population: 962,676
\nMedian Home Price: $148,788
\nMedian Annual Salary: $43,730
\nDays Below Freezing: 76
\nDays Above 90 Degrees: 73
\nMean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 235\n
\n","caption":"
\nMetro Population: 5,949,403
\nMedian Home Price: $371,772
\nMedian Annual Salary: $65,910
\nDays Below Freezing: 68
\nDays Above 90 Degrees: 35
\nMean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 202\n
\n","caption":"
\nMetro Population: 1,318,408
\nMedian Home Price: $149,646
\nMedian Annual Salary: $44,280
\nDays Below Freezing: 76
\nDays Above 90 Degrees: 71
\nMean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 235\n
\n","caption":"
\nMetro Population: 18,388,091
\nMedian Home Price: $487,716
\nMedian Annual Salary: $51,766
\nDays Below Freezing: 0
\nDays Above 90 Degrees: 21
\nMean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 263\n
\n","caption":"
\nMetro Population: 984,178
\nMedian Home Price: $511,600
\nMedian Annual Salary: $49,320
\nDays Below Freezing: 0
\nDays Above 90 Degrees: 24
\nMean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 271\n
\n","caption":"
\nMetro Population: 1,925,706
\nMedian Home Price: $829,792
\nMedian Annual Salary: $78,620
\nDays Below Freezing: 0
\nDays Above 90 Degrees: 2
\nMean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 260\n