Best cities in the West — Yourlist

Best cities in the West

a Yourlist ranking · the crowd decides the order

The West's best places to live, compared on size, housing, and sunshine.

What counts: Seeded with approximate real-world figures — the crowd's votes decide the order from here.

Los Angeles▲ Rising
Metro pop.: 12,900,000Median home: $900,000Sunny days: 284
added by IJRin 9 rankings
52
San Francisco▲ Rising
Metro pop.: 4,600,000Median home: $1,200,000Sunny days: 259
added by IJRin 6 rankings
28
San Diego▲ Rising
Metro pop.: 3,300,000Median home: $900,000Sunny days: 266
added by IJRin 7 rankings
27
Sacramento▲ Rising
Metro pop.: 2,400,000Median home: $480,000Sunny days: 269
added by IJRin 4 rankings
18
Phoenix▲ Rising
Metro pop.: 5,000,000Median home: $440,000Sunny days: 296
added by IJRin 6 rankings
12
San Jose▲ Rising
Metro pop.: 1,900,000Median home: $1,400,000Sunny days: 257
added by IJRin 7 rankings
10
Colorado Springs▲ Rising
Metro pop.: 760,000Median home: $450,000Sunny days: 243
added by IJRin 3 rankings
10
Denver▲ Rising
Metro pop.: 3,000,000Median home: $560,000Sunny days: 245
added by IJRin 7 rankings
9
Tucson▲ Rising
Metro pop.: 1,000,000Median home: $330,000Sunny days: 286
added by IJRin 7 rankings
7
Boise
Metro pop.: 800,000Median home: $470,000Sunny days: 206
added by IJRin 4 rankings
3
Portland
Metro pop.: 2,500,000Median home: $540,000Sunny days: 144
added by IJRin 2 rankings
-1
Spokane
Metro pop.: 600,000Median home: $400,000Sunny days: 171
added by IJRin 2 rankings
-4
Salt Lake City
Metro pop.: 1,300,000Median home: $550,000Sunny days: 222
added by IJRin 4 rankings
-5
Las Vegas▼ Falling
Metro pop.: 2,300,000Median home: $430,000Sunny days: 294
added by IJRin 2 rankings
-11
Seattle
Metro pop.: 4,000,000Median home: $750,000Sunny days: 152
added by IJRin 4 rankings
-13
Honolulu▼ Falling
Metro pop.: 1,000,000Median home: $850,000Sunny days: 271
added by IJRin 3 rankings
-16

Your pick is missingAdd the candidate this list forgot — the crowd takes it from there.Add it

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Comments (9)

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HHank Johnson2d
Weather is underrated in these rankings until you've done one bad winter.
DDmitri Johnson6d
Visited last spring and it absolutely lives up to the hype.
WWill TanakaJul 27, 2026
Lived in two of these — the cost-of-living numbers are the whole story.
HHugo Rossi6d
The commute data should be weighted double, honestly.