Anchorage is No. 7 on Resonance Consulting's list of America’s Best 100 Small Cities for 2026. The report, now in its 10th year, considers economic, quality of life, and cultural factors. The results are a blend of statistical analysis and feedback from visitors, residents, and prospective future residents.
"The competitive logic of small cities is fundamentally different from that of large ones," reads the report. "They have won by being something specific — and then investing in that specificity with enough consistency that it becomes nationally visible and recognized."
Anchorage even made the list among bigger cities, hitting No. 61 on the list of Top 100 best cities as well. And Anchorage brand as a destination seems to shine through.
"The cities running above the line — where perception exceeds overall performance — are equally telling....Their national desirability scores are elevated by visitor brands, economic perception through announcements of major corporate investments or relocations, and cultural identities that generate residential and professional consideration well ahead of what the composite performance data would independently produce. Memphis, Anchorage, Reno, Tulsa, and Spokane are in this group, too — cities where a specific asset or narrative has created more national visibility than their overall scores would generate on their own. In most of these cases, exceptional strength in one pillar — like lovability in the case of Memphis and Anchorage — is doing the work of lifting overall perception above what the composite merits."
Read the Resonance Best Cities report.
