Last September, USA Today ranked the 50 best cities to live in the United States. The rankings proved to be kind to the city. Bridgeport was ranked No. 16 on a list that primarily featured cities with hundreds of thousands of residents.

 

For those that may be under the false impression Bridgeport has connections to USA Today to get the ranking, maybe this news will change their minds. Another national Web site, MSN.com, released its list of “America’s 50 Best Cities to Live” with more good news.

 

Although not ranked as high as in the USA Today feature, Bridgeport still managed to crash the party. The Web site ranked Bridgeport as the No. 24 best place to live in the entire United States.

 

 Here’s part of what the Web site had to say about Bridgeport.

 

“Bridgeport is a small city of fewer than 9,000 people located in central West Virginia.  A relatively affluent area, Bridgeport’s median household income of $80,666 is about $20,000 higher than the median household income nationwide. High incomes are bolstered by a strong job market. An average of just 2.6 percent of the city’s labor force were unemployed in the last five years, well below the comparable 5.9 percent national unemployment rate.”

 

Bridgeport Mayor Andy Lang was pleased to hear the news. He said he’s happy to be accustomed to seeing Bridgeport ranked high on many state rankings and now the national ones.

 

“We’ve seen it before and it always makes us feel good, but when you see USA Today and, now, MSN, rank us among the best places it really has an emphasis,” said Lang.

 

Lang said it’s not just good for Bridgeport, but it’s good for West Virginia.  He said it lets others know there are plenty of good places to live in the Mountain State.

 

“I  think sometimes we get in a little bit of a bubble with our own culture as viewed by others and even ourselves, and I love our culture so I don’t mean that as a negative, but this shows that Bridgeport compared to other cities the same size or even much larger has a fantastic quality of life to offer,” said Lang.

 

During past rankings, Community Development Director Andrea Kerr said the city can utilize these rankings when businesses and developers inquire about the city and what it has to offer.

 

For the Bridgeport ranking and information, click HERE.

 

For the entire list of rankings, click HERE. Hit the arrow on the left middle of the photo to go to the next city.

 

Editor's Note: Photos by Ben Queen Photography.