Northwest Arkansas ranked third in U.S. News & World Report's Best Place to Live rankings despite being the smallest region on the list.

The report ranks the country's 100 largest metropolitan areas based on affordability, job prospects and quality of life. The Northwest Arkansas metropolitan statistical area includes Benton, Washington and Madison counties and McDonald County, Mo. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the area's 2014 population was 501,653.

Best Places to Live in the USA To see the entire list go to http://realestate.usnews.com/places/rankings-best-places-to-live. Denver Austin, Texas Northwest Arkansas Raleigh-Durham, N.C. Colorado Springs, Colo. Boise, Idaho Seattle Washington, DC San Francisco San Jose, Calif. Little Rock Tulsa, Okla. Memphis, Tenn. Source: U.S. News & World Report

Little Rock ranked 32nd. Denver grabbed the top spot.

Rob Smith, communications and policy director of the Northwest Arkansas Council, said people often know the area in bits and pieces, and not as a region.

"The thing this does for us is it causes a whole lot of people to read something about Northwest Arkansas," he said. "If it causes them to dig a little deeper and learn a little more about us, they will be impressed."

U.S. News & World Report lists Fayetteville, but Miriam Weiner, the publication's real estate product manager, said the ranking includes the entire metropolitan area.

"We wanted something that would be recognizable not just to the area, but to the entire country. We made this decision for a number of metropolitan areas," she said.

Steve Clark, president and CEO of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, said he was thrilled to see Fayetteville listed.

"It helps Fayetteville; it helps Northwest Arkansas," he said. "We couldn't buy that kind of advertisement."

Weiner said the study was based on input from thousands of people across the country who shared what they look for in a place to live. Main issues included quality of life such as affordable housing and low crime rates, a strong economy and good schools.

Northwest Arkansas had the top score of all 100 areas for value, which includes income and cost of living. Only San Jose, Calif., and Boise, Idaho, had higher quality of life scores in the top 10.

U.S. News & World Report used data from the Census Bureau, the FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to come up with the top 100 ranking. Weiner said the data-driven, unbiased report makes U.S. News a go-to source for rankings.

Smith agreed this ranking carries more weight than lists that are based on opinion rather than statistics.

"The logic to a lot of rankings is not very strong, but this one is solid," he said.

NW News on 03/03/2016