Nashville has been named the 15th best place to live in the country — and it's not because of the honky-tonks.

Well, not just because of the honky-tonks.

"Food is also a really big deal," new U.S. News and World Report ranking said.

Even with local gripes, many justified, about housing costs, commutes and too many tourists on scooters, the city on the Cumberland River made the list between San Jose, California, and Asheville, North Carolina, in an analysis of 125 metro areas nationwide.

Music City also rang in as the seventh best place to retire.

Overall, Nashville received a 7.1 score out of 10 on the ranking's assessment of the local job market, housing affordability, quality of life and more.

Nashville was the top-ranked city in Tennessee, ahead of Knoxville (46th), Chattanooga (55th) and Memphis (118th).

Nashville a highly desirable place to live

Nashville scored its highest individual grade for desirability, as determined by a survey of 2,500 people nationwide on where they'd most like to live.

The report highlights what people think of when they think Nashville: "A community fiercely driven by a desire to create," it said.

"The metro area has a blossoming job market and an exploding entertainment scene fueling an appetite (and thirst) for all things locally sourced and artisanal in craft — everything from handmade marshmallows to small batch gin," according to the U.S. News report.

As to who is moving into the city: 26.1% of residents are under 20 years of age, closely followed by 25.8% of residents aged 45-44.

Housing costs: A constant discussion, but ranked high

7.1: The ranking of Nashville's value, or housing affordability index.

The report measures how "comfortably" residents can afford to live within their means by comparing household incomes to housing costs.

"Nashville is relatively affordable compared to other major U.S. metro areas, though the housing market has become increasingly competitive," the report said.

The lack of a state income tax factored into the above-average ranking (even factoring in the investment hall tax). Nashville, the report said, offers a better value than similarly-sized metro areas.

Housing costs in Nashville have continued to increase in recent years. The Nashville median home cost of $248,883 in 2018 was higher than the national median of $227,025.

'Consistently strong' job growth

Nashville's deep field of health care giants and start ups led to a 7.1 rating of the job market. The report called financial prospects of residents "favorable," even though the average income is lower than the national average.

"Nashville also has a tenacious entrepreneurial streak. Nashville is home to a large number of small businesses, many of them owned by millennials and women," the report found. "Armed with a strong job market, those who call Nashville home experience a low rate of unemployment."

The 2.8% unemployment rate in Nashville is lower than the national average.

Beyond health care, employers like Nissan North America, Vanderbilt University and Asurion were mentioned as factors in the healthy job market.

Getting to and from those jobs, however, is part of Nashville's lowest individual score.

Quality of life: Nashville's lowest score

Nashville's score of 6.1 for quality of life was the lowest out of the five categories — and lower even than the score for Knoxville.

Factoring in crime rates, health care access, education, well-being and resident commutes, the quality of life index ranks how satisfied residents are with daily lives.

Nashville has a significantly higher rate of violent crime than the national average, the report indicates, but property crime is only slightly higher.

The rate, measured per 100,000 people and pulled from FBI records, is also ranked higher than similarly-sized metro areas.

Using data from the U.S. News Best High Schools rankings, the report determined the availability of quality education in Nashville by calculating the average college readiness score of all public schools in the metro area and comparing it to that of all the other ranked metro areas.

At a 5.9 score, the schools ranking was measurably lower than similar metro areas.

Even so, six local high schools are recognized on the best high school rankings, and two colleges are on the top lists.

The high schools are Hume Fogg Magnet, Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet, KIPP Nashville Collegiate, MNPS Middle College, Republic and Stem Prep High Schools, and the colleges are Belmont and Vanderbilt Universities.

A lengthy commute time for residents also brought the score down, with a 27.3 minute average commute sitting higher than the national average by nearly a full minute.

How this was calculated

Each of the five categories carried a specific weight.

Job Market Index - 20%

Value Index - 25%

Quality of Life Index - 30%

Desirability Index- 15%

Net Migration - 10%

The weights were determined based on a poll that asked people about the most important factors when considering moving.

U.S. News determined the job market index by giving equal weight to the unemployment rate and average salary.

The value index scores were determined by dividing the blended annual housing cost by the blended median annual household income.

Quality of life considered multiple factors:

Crime rates - 30%

Quality and availability of health care - 10%

Quality of education - 25%

Well-being - 15%

Commuter index - 20%

Desirability was determined after polling 2,500 people about where they would most like to live, while net migration looked at how many people are moving to and away from each metro area.

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Reach reporter Mariah Timms at mtimms@tennessean.com or 615-259-8344 and on Twitter @MariahTimms.