Author: openjargon

• Shake Shack doesn't currently plan to increase prices again this year, CFO Katie Fogertey said.
• Overall, menu prices went up in the mid-single digits in the quarter, she said.
• Californian prices rose by 7%, driven by the state's new $20-an-hour wage for fast-food workers.

Shake Shack says it could freeze prices for the remainder of the year.

Some diners have said that rising prices at fast-food and fast-casual chains are putting them off. At earnings calls this week, executives from chains including McDonald's and Starbucks said that customers were increasingly focused on value.

Shake Shack raised menu prices by about 3% in mid-March, CFO Katie Fogertey told investors on Thursday.

The burger and frozen custard chain had already also raised menu prices for delivery through its app and website by 5% in January, she said. This had pushed up prices on third-party delivery orders, where Shake Shack charges a 15% premium compared to ordering through the company directly, she said.

Overall, menu prices went up in the mid-single digits in the quarter, Fogertey said.

"We have no current plans to further increase price this year," she said.

Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti said that some of its lower-income customers were "probably trading down from time-to-time," though he didn't say whether they were switching to cheaper chains or cooking at home instead.

The price increases this year were introduced to address food and wage inflation, Fogertey said. She said that the March rises came from a roughly 7% price increase in California, with prices elsewhere going up by between 2% and 2.5%, which she said was "very consistent with historical pricing practices" at the chain.

California boosted the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $20 an hour on April 1, up from the state's general minimum wage of $16. The new legislation applies to limited-service chains with at least 60 locations across the US.

Many restaurants have pushed some of their higher payrolls onto diners by raising menu prices, like at Shake Shack. Some have also tried to cut their costs by stopping hiring, turning to automation and technology like digital order kiosks, or delaying renovations.

Shack Shack's same-restaurant sales were up 1.6% year-over-year in the quarter, a huge slump compared to the 10.3% jump in same-restaurant sales from 2022 to 2023. It attributed the drop in the rate of growth of comparable sales to a 2.1% fall in traffic, believed to have been mainly caused by poor weather.

The company estimated that it missed out on about $3 million in sales due to weather as customers dined out less and its restaurants cut their hours or even temporarily closed.

Is fast food too expensive? Email this reporter at gdean@insider.com.

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• Janet Yellen told Congress that buying a starter home has become "prohibitively expensive."
• Soaring prices and mortgage rates have made it "almost impossible" for first-time buyers, she said.
• The Treasury chief flagged two proposed tax credits that could boost buying power and raise supply.

Owning a home is a key element of the American dream, yet it's become an unattainable fantasy for many people, Janet Yellen said.

"With house prices having gone up, and now with much higher interest and mortgage rates, it's almost impossible for first-time buyers," the Treasury boss said during testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday.

Yellen was nodding to the fact that the median house price has jumped 40% in the past four years to a near-record high of over $420,000, per Redfin data.

At the same time, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate has surged from around 3% at the end of 2021 to around 7%.

Put differently, homes are pricier than ever, and borrowing the money required to purchase them has become far more costly. As a result, Yellen said that buying a first home is "almost prohibitively expensive."

Mortgage rates have soared since early 2022 because the Federal Reserve has hiked its benchmark interest rate from nearly zero to north of 5% in an effort to curb historic inflation.

That has created a "lock-in effect," Yellen said. Prospective sellers are holding off on listing their properties because they're unwilling to give up the dirt-cheap mortgage rate they secured years ago.

The resulting inventory shortage has pushed up home values and fueled an affordability crisis. Potential buyers are balking at paying much higher prices and taking on far larger monthly mortgage payments than they expected, meaning the housing market is essentially frozen.

"We know that affordable housing, and especially starter homes, is an area where we really need to do a lot to increase availability," Yellen said.

The veteran economist and former Fed chair highlighted two proposals from the Biden administration that might alleviate the problem.

The first is the mortgage relief credit, which would give first-time buyers a $10,000 tax credit spread over two years to help them purchase their first property.

That would reduce the effective mortgage rate on the median home by over 1.5 percentage points for two years, potentially helping more than 3.5 million middle-class families, the White House said.

Biden has also proposed a one-year tax credit of up to $10,000 for middle-class families that sell their starter home to someone who'll live in it. The White House estimated the credit would help nearly 3 million families.

Moreover, the president has called on Congress to expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and other legislation with the goal of building and renovating more than two million homes to help address the wider housing shortage.

However, real estate experts have previously told Business Insider that Biden's measures could stoke more demand and push up home prices, and warned it would take years to close the supply gap.

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• The US unemployment rate remained low in April, but it ticked up.
• Nonfarm payrolls increased by 175,000 in April, per a news release on Friday.
• Data out Wednesday showed quits dropped in March, but over 3 million people quit.

In the US, the unemployment rate increased from March to April. Plus, job growth in April slowed down a lot, a new labor market report on Friday showed.

The economy added 175,000 jobs in April, per the news release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday. This job growth for the US was way below the forecast of 238,000.

The release said March's job growth was revised from 303,000 to 315,000. February's job growth was revised again, from 270,000 in the previous revision to 236,000.

Additionally, the unemployment rate is still below 4%. April's rate was expected to be 3.8%, but the unemployment rate increased from 3.8% in March to 3.9% in April.

Friday's news release about the labor market comes after the Federal Open Market Committee meeting earlier this week. The Fed held interest rates steady, Business Insider's Ayelet Sheffey reported.

"Inflation has eased substantially over the past year while the labor market has remained strong and that's very good news," Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, said at a press conference on Wednesday. "But inflation is still too high, further progress in bringing it down is not assured, and the path forward is uncertain."

Inflation, as seen by the personal consumption expenditures price index, has been above the Fed's 2% target. This index climbed 2.7% in March from a year prior. The consumer price index also shows inflation is too high, rising 3.5% in March from a year prior.

Nick Bunker, the economic research director for North America at the Indeed Hiring Lab, told Business Insider days before the Federal Open Market Committee meeting and the release of new labor market data that signs indicate the labor market has cooled.

"It's still robust but in a very non-inflationary way," Bunker said.

A news release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics from Wednesday also highlighted Bunker's point. There were 8.5 million job openings in March, and while that wasn't a major dip from the 8.8 million in February, it does add to the point of a moderating but robust labor market. The number of people quitting also fell from 3.5 million in February to 3.3 million in March.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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• Tim Cook has said major AI announcements are coming.
• Analysts are hoping Apple's AI strategy can boost slumping iPhone sales.
• Wedbush's Dan Ives said Apple's AI efforts are set to drive a "supercycle" starting with the iPhone 16.

Tim Cook is still keeping his cards close to his chest when it comes to AI.

Analysts pushed the Apple CEO to talk about its upcoming generative AI announcements on Thursday's earnings call — with very little success.

Cook continued to keep a tight lid on all things AI, merely teasing big AI announcements in the "coming weeks." It's a standard play from the CEO, who has been hesitant to publicly discuss Apple's AI development.

Cook reiterated that the iPhone maker was "well positioned," saying there were "big opportunities" across Apple products for generative AI.

The remarks — and slightly better-than-expected numbers — appeared to reassure investors, with the stock climbing 6% premarket. A $110 billion share buyback also helped.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives described the earnings call as a "drumroll moment," adding Apple looked set to unveil its long-awaited AI strategy at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Cook has previously promised to share details of the company's AI work later this year.

Ives said Apple's AI efforts were set to drive a "supercycle starting with iPhone 16 this fall."

iPhone issues

Apple needs to ride the generative AI wave.

It's had a rough year, struggling in China, been slapped with a massive fine, and is facing a lawsuit.

Now, despite beating Wall Street's pessimistic estimates, sales of its flagship product are declining. iPhone sales slumped by 10% in the past three months, with the company facing increasingly tough competition in key markets like China.

Investors are hoping that new generative AI features for its products can boost Apple's slumping smartphone sales.

Analysts have been scrambling for updates on Apple's AI progress for months, with some concerned that it's moved more slowly and fallen behind its Big Tech rivals.

In March, Brian Mulberry, a portfolio manager at Apple shareholder Zacks Investment Management, told The Wall Street Journal the company hadn't really made a "big splash in the AI space yet."

A month later, Apple's reported dismantling of two projects and teams only served to fuel concerns that the company had lost focus and was slipping behind rivals in critical areas.

Other Big Tech companies, including Google, Meta, and Microsoft, put AI front and center during recent earnings calls. For Google and Microsoft, investors cheered AI progress despite high spending on infrastructure.

The news of an upcoming announcement on Apple's progress is likely to bolster investor confidence.

Last month, a Bloomberg report that Apple was working on revamping its Mac lineup with new processors that forefront AI gave the stock a boost.

Representatives for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.

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• Forbes has determined who the wealthiest resident in every US state is.  
• Despite all the big stars that flock to Hawaii, the elusive founder of eBay, Pierre Omidyar takes the state's crown.
• Omidyar has given away $1.5 billion of his fortune since 2014.

America's elite have long turned to Hawaii as the ideal tropical paradise for their vacation homes.

Notable island neighbors include billionaires like Oprah Winfrey, Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, and Oracle founder Larry Ellison.

But despite the big names and showy personalities of Hawaii's ultra-rich residents, it's the media-shy founder of eBay, Pierre Omidyar, who is the island state's richest permanent inhabitant, according to Forbes's list of the richest billionaire in every state for 2024.

In total, Forbes calculated that 47 out of 50 US states play home to 54 billionaires. Together they're worth a combined $1.6 trillion.

Omidyar contributes just $6.5 billion to that total.

The French-born Iranian-American founded eBay in 1995. Within three years he had made his first billion from the online auction house.

In 2002, eBay acquired the online payment company PayPal for $1.5 billion. It was spun off in 2015 to allow eBay to develop its own payments system.

In 2020, Omidyar stepped from eBay's board as part of a broader overhaul of the company. The departure was not related to any disagreement with the company, the Wall Street Journal reported.

He remains active in the company and retains the role of director emeritus.

Omidyar has also become involved in investigative reporting, creating First Look Media which subsequently launched the online news site The Intercept.

He also develops real estate in Mexico while residing in Hawaii's state capital, Honolulu, with his wife Pamela.

According to Forbes, the 56-year-old is the world's 444th richest person. Since 2004, he's given away over $1.5 billion of his fortune through impact investments and philanthropy.

He is a long-term Democratic party donor and a well-known critic of Big Tech. In 2020, the Omidyar group donated $150,000 to Whistleblower Aid, a nonprofit that was representing Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen.

Omidyar has taken the top spot in Hawaii from Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle.

Though Ellison still owns 98% of an entire island in Hawaii, records now indicate that California is his primary home, according to Forbes.

The same is true for Mark Zuckerburg and Jeff Bezos, who won top spots in their main residencies in California and Florida, respectively.

In 2021, Bezos and his now-fiancée Lauren Sanchez broke records for purchasing the most expensive property ever sold on the Hawaiian island, according to Architectural Digest. The couple paid $78 million for a 14-acre property on the island of Maui.

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• French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the Ukraine war with The Economist. 
• He said France could send troops if requested by Ukraine in response to a Russian breakthrough.
• His remarks about French soldiers defending Ukraine are among the most hawkish by a Western leader.

France's President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed that he would consider sending French troops to Ukraine, and spelled out the conditions in which this could place.

Speaking to The Economist, Macron described the urgent threat Russia's President Vladimir Putin poses to Europe in the wake of the 2022 Ukraine invasion.

"I'm not ruling anything out, because we are facing someone who is not ruling anything out," Macron said, when asked about his earlier comments that NATO troops could be deployed to help defend Ukraine.

"We have undoubtedly been too hesitant by defining the limits of our action to someone who no longer has any and who is the aggressor!"

He said he would consider sending French troops to Ukraine "if the Russians were to break through the front lines, if there were a Ukrainian request, which is not the case today."

He added that if Russia defeats Ukraine it would then likely seek to attack another European country.

In recent months, political and military leaders have been issuing increasingly stark warnings about the possible consequences of a Russian victory in Ukraine.

Macron's remarks about sending French troops to defend Ukraine were among the most hawkish by a Western leader.

They came as Ukraine struggled to prevent Russia from breaking through its defensive lines amid a US aid block. And though the $61 billion aid bill recently passed, Ukraine is still fighting to hold back intensifying Russian attacks.

While NATO countries have sent money and weapons to help Ukraine, they have avoided a direct confrontation amid fears it could escalate the conflict with a nuclear-armed Russia.

Under Article 5 of NATO's founding treaty, members are pledged to defend each other if attacked.

The Kremlin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, in response to Macron's earlier remarks, said that deploying NATO troops to Ukraine would lead to war between Russia and the alliance.

"We would need to talk not about the probability, but about the inevitability," Peskov said, as quoted by RFE/RL.

Analysts recently discussed the likelihood of Russia attacking NATO with Business Insider, with Russian military expert Ruth Deyermond saying that Putin's regime is too weak militarily to risk a direct confrontation with NATO.

In the interview with The Economist, Macron said he was determined to prevent a Russian victory.

"We mustn't rule anything out because our objective is that Russia must never be able to win in Ukraine," he said.

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• Ukrainian forces took out more than 100 Russian soldiers with an ATACMS missile, per OSINT analysts.
• Four ATACMS were used to target the group, one analyst said.
• The soldiers would have been out of reach of Ukraine's shorter-range ATACMS missiles.

A Ukrainian ATACMS long-range missile strike killed more than 100 Russian soldiers in an occupied region 50 miles from the front line, according to OSINT and military analysts.

Ukrainian forces targeted a Russian military training area some 50 miles behind the front line in the occupied Luhansk Oblast in eastern Ukraine, per an assessment by The Institute for the Study of War.

According to two aerial geolocated videos posted on Wednesday by X user Osinttechnical, an account affiliated with the Centre for Naval Analyses, Ukraine appeared to strike the training area with three US-supplied M39 ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles.

Osinttechnical said at least one of the missiles struck a gathering of more than 100 Russian soldiers, with hundreds of M74 APAM bomblets falling on them.

Open-source geolocation project GeoConfirmed said four ATACMS were used in the attack, with the location being the village of Rohove in eastern Ukraine. One of its volunteers shared footage on X, saying that the four strikes happened within the space of a minute.

Business Insider couldn't independently verify details of the attack.

The reported attack comes after the US secretly sent about 100 Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, to Ukraine last month, according to The New York Times.

The US had previously sent ATACMS with a shorter range to Ukraine, but the versions sent recently can travel about 190 miles — which puts higher-value targets in Ukraine's crosshairs.

An unnamed senior US official told the Times that Ukrainian soldiers already put them to use to attack a Russian military airfield in Crimea in mid-April.

Ukraine said that strike targeted the Dzhankoi military base in northern Crimea, destroying or critically damaging four S-400 launchers, three radar stations, air-defense equipment, and airspace surveillance equipment.

The longer-range ATACMS could prove crucial for Ukraine, as they can travel about 190 miles and hit higher-value targets in places like Crimea, which has been occupied by Russia since 2014.

Philip Karber, a military analyst with expertise on Ukraine, told Radio Free Europe this week that the long-range ATACMS have the potential to "basically make Crimea military worthless."

The US sent Ukraine ATACMS with a shorter range last fall, which enabled Ukraine to destroy Russian helicopters and airfields behind the front lines, but not go after more distant targets.

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• Alaska, Delaware, and West Virginia aren't home to any billionaires, Forbes reported.
• California, in comparison, has nearly 200 billionaires.
• This is despite nearly 800 billionaires living in the US, per estimates.

Alaska, Delaware, and West Virginia are the only states that still don't have a single billionaire resident, according to a new report by Forbes.

The outlet on Thursday released its latest ranking of the richest residents of every state. Many of the findings were unsurprising: Elon Musk claims the title for Texas, Mark Zuckerberg for California, and Michael Bloomberg for New York.

As of December, nearly 800 billionaires lived in the US, according to a report by investment-migration consultancy Henley & Partners.

But three states don't have any billionaires listing them as their primary residence.

Intuit CEO Brad Smith — no, not the Microsoft president of the same name — isn't far off, however. Forbes estimates that the West Virginia resident, who's also the president of Marshall University, was worth about $900 million as of March.

And Delaware's Elizabeth Snyder, whose family's manufacturing company developed and patented Gore-Tex, is worth about $800 million, per Forbes' estimates.

But Alaska is still a long way from having a billionaire resident.

The two richest people in the state, Jonathan Rubini and his family and Leonard Hyde and his family, are both worth around $400 million each, per Forbes' estimates. Rubini and Hyde cofounded JL Properties, a commercial real estate developer.

To be clear, Alaska, Delaware, and West Virginia are among the least-populated states in the US. According to Census Bureau estimates for 2023, Alaska was the fourth-smallest state or district in the US by population, Delaware was seventh-smallest, and West Virginia was 13th-smallest.

And the states with the most billionaires — California, followed by New York and Florida, per Forbes' ranking — are three of the four most populous states. California has 197 billionaires, per Forbes data from March.

But there are many more factors that contribute to how many billionaires a state has than just its population. California has a swathe of multi-billion-dollar tech companies; New York is home to Wall Street and top law firms; and Florida is building its reputation as a hub for financial-services companies as well as a playground for the superrich.

And where the wealthy choose to live is changing, too. The pandemic has contributed to what Henley & Partners dubs a "millionaire remix," with more rich people living in cities including Texas state capital Austin, Scottsdale, Arizona, and West Palm Beach, Florida.

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• I worked in public schools for over two decades and loved that my kids were in school. 
• The pandemic forced remote learning and my kids thrived. 
• I appreciate that they are safer at home than in schools and that we get to travel. 

I thought I could never homeschool my own kids.

It wasn't for me. Not only did homeschooling seem difficult and intimidating, but as a former teacher, I loved that my kids were in school.

For more than two decades, I worked in schools — as a classroom teacher, after-school program teacher, volunteer, tutor, and substitute. I taught all ages, from preschoolers through high schoolers. I was an ardent supporter of public schools and thrived in traditional schools myself.

But the pandemic made me reevaluate everything.

My kids thrived during remote learning

Remote learning during the pandemic wasn't for everyone. Surprisingly, my family loved it. There were growing pains, but this new version of school worked for us.

In particular, one of our children is a talented student but faces social challenges in certain settings, like school. During remote learning, for the first time, they had the freedom to focus on learning without the social exhaustion of a seven-hour school day.

They thrived.

I was available as a consistent aide for them, which our school system had been unable to provide. With more selective social interactions, our kid was able to approach those interactions from a place of strength and curiosity.

After years of trying to fit our child's needs into traditional school, we finally, and inadvertently, found where they fit best, and it was learning from home.

We could travel

Along with that realization, we'd long dreamed of my spouse working remotely so we could spend time in other countries. I wanted my kids to experience other cultures and ways of life. When the pandemic forced employers to explore remote work, this far-fetched dream became plausible, and by homeschooling, we weren't limited to summers. We decided to lean into learning through travel.

While homeschooling, we've traveled to a dozen US National Parks and lived for a month each in Spain and Kenya, with an upcoming stay in Costa Rica. Being able to travel during off seasons means more affordable prices and more ideal weather.

I wanted them to have anti-racist education

Prior to our decision, our local school board faced regular opposition to diversity and inclusion efforts. As in many communities, discourse became divisive. Speaking at a school board meeting in favor of inclusivity, I realized I didn't want my kids' education caught in the crossfire of political talking points. I wanted them to learn honest, thought-provoking, age-appropriate lessons about difficult topics, but I knew as an educator that teachers needed to tread carefully for their own protection in the current political climate.

Classroom teachers are the best people to guide students through these topics, but their freedom to teach is constantly being challenged. In the meantime, my kids have a teacher in their home who can teach without hesitation and answer their questions without repercussions.

I wanted them to be safe

There have been 18 school shootings on K-12 school grounds in the United States so far this year. Our district receives multiple threats each year, some deemed credible enough to result in increased police presence or building-wide searches. District administration closed school for two days after credible threats to minority students. Meanwhile, mental health and counseling services for students are overburdened and underfunded.

I feel anxiety for friends and loved ones every time we get the district's warning notifications, but a part of me also breathes easier knowing my own children are in the backyard working on science projects, not practicing lockdown drills.

Homeschooling wasn't on my radar. Yet it was the missing piece to helping my child and expanding my kids' perspectives. It's worth rethinking the possibilities of what education can be.

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• Escalating housing costs in major cities have Americans looking for smaller cities to settle down in.
• Livability released a list of the 100 most livable small and midsize US cities.
• Indiana and Texas both have two cities that made the top ten when ranked by livability scores.

As sky-high housing costs are increasingly pricing people out of places like Los Angeles and New York, Americans are increasingly looking to smaller cities and rural towns to set down roots.

Millennials are moving further and further into the suburbs, while remote workers have made cross-country moves to previously low-key places like Montana to capitalize on the relatively more affordable housing and costs of living.

The influx of transplants to some of these smaller cities and towns has, in turn, raised housing costs and caused problems for locals — but not all places have passed the threshold of affordability.

Livability, a media and marketing company that ranks places based on how livable they are, released its annual list of the 100 most livable small to midsize cities in the US this week.

The list is limited to cities with populations under 500,000 people that also have median home values under $500,000. That excludes places like Miami or Oakland, for instance, which have less than half a million people but have median home prices of around $601,000 and $840,000, respectively.

Beyond size and home values, the list is based on the following factors: the economy, like unemployment rates and job opportunities; housing and cost of living; amenities like museums, parks, shopping, and nightlife; transportation, including walkability and median commute time; environment, such as air quality and natural disaster risks; safety; education; and health.

The data used to compile the list includes public sources, like the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the IRS, and private sources, including satellite imagery and business records.

Livability's list of 100 cities is not ranked in order, as you are able to filter and rank the list based on your top priorities. However, each city is assigned an overall livability score, or LivScore, using an algorithm that considers the above categories. All one 100 cities can also be viewed on a US map, so you can easily search by region or state.

The following ranking of the top 10 best small to midsize cities to live in is based on the overall livability scores.

10. Troy, Michigan

Troy, Michigan, is located about 25 miles northwest of Detroit and has a population of over 85,685. The median home value is $343,627. Troy ranked high on Livability's list for education due to highly rated schools, as well as health and cost of living. It has also been voted the safest city in Michigan.

9. Frisco, Texas

Frisco, Texas, is a suburb of Dallas located about 27 miles directly north of the city. With a population of about 224,003 and a median home value of $470,968, Frisco ranked high in the categories of health, education, and economy, thanks to abundant job opportunities.

8. Sugar Land, Texas

Sugar Land, Texas, sits on the southwest edge of the greater Houston area, about 20 miles from the city. The suburb has a population of 113,429 people and median home value of $359,460. In addition to being in close proximity to one of the largest cities in the US, Sugar Land ranked high for its cost of living and education, and has attractive amenities like museums and parks.

7. Overland Park, Kansas

Overland Park, Kansas, sits on the state line just southeast of Kansas City, Missouri. Overland Park has a population of 200,187 people and a median home value of $354,977. The city ranked high in the economy category and is home to large companies like T-Mobile and United Healthcare.

6. Broomfield, Colorado

Broomfield, Colorado, is located roughly in between two of the state's better-known cities, Denver and Boulder. Broomfield has 76,358 residents and a median home value of $491,262. Broomfield has abundant green space and outdoor opportunities, including the Flatiron rock formations, and is ranked high for education and economy.

5. Naperville, Illinois

Naperville, Illinois, is a large suburb situated about 30 miles west of Chicago. The population is 150,412, and the median home value is $433,840. The city ranked high for health and education, and downtown Naperville is full of restaurants, shopping, and other amenities.

4. Fishers, Indiana

Fishers, Indiana, is located northeast of Indianapolis, the state's largest city. The suburb has a population of 102,878 and a median home value of $332,418. Fishers ranked extremely high for housing and cost of living, in part due to the availability of affordable homes.

3. Columbia, Maryland

Columbia, Maryland, located southwest of Baltimore, has a median home value of $467,495. Its population of 106,410 people makes it the second most populated community in the state. Columbia ranked high in education and health and access to government and research jobs due to being about 30 miles from Washington, DC.

2. Cary, North Carolina

Cary, North Carolina, is located just west of Raleigh, the state's largest city. It has a population of 179,000 and a median home value of $434,151. Cary ranked high in the environment, economy, and education categories, and is close to major colleges like Duke and University of North Carolina.

1. Carmel, Indiana

Carmel, Indiana, located north of Indianapolis, had the highest livability score on the list. It has a population of 100,691 and a median home value of $380,506. Carmel ranked high for its cost of living and health and attracts families due to job opportunities, parks, and highly rated schools.

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