Philly considered ‘most underrated’ city for 20-somethings

Every year, millennials are rushing off to new cities of dwelling fresh out of their cap and gown to tackle young adult life. But how does one determine the best place for them to live?

AreaVibes.com is a site that ranks America's top 100 cities based on their "livability score." This score is determined using a report card-like score sheet where users rate key things like amenities, cost of living, crime index, and employment. Using this tally system, Plano, TX, Gilbert, AZ, and Carrolton, TX come in at the top for cities with population of more than 200,000.

Business Insider's Andy Kiersz published a list today that demolished standards of living, especially for 20-somethings, because 20-somethings have different standards.

Instead of abiding by the typical rules of living, Kiersz developed his own, the Shiftless Millennial City Index (SMCI).  "This ranking [AreaVibes.com] is completely useless to me," he writes. "I am a somewhat reckless, single 20-something trying to start a career. Buying a house, settling down, and worrying about what school district I live in are completely alien concepts."

Guess which underdog city ended up on top? Philadelphia. Not too far behind was Newark, NJ (#2), Jersey City (#3), and Chicago, IL (#5). Here is how the list was determined:

We can see which cities are the most underrated by AreaVibes by subtracting SMCI rankings from AreaVibes rankings for the 88 cities ranked by AreaVibes with populations of at least 200,000 — the bigger the difference, the more underrated the city. This gives us an idea of some of the places where shiftless millennials should live.

Kiersz's standards were based on the following categories, each with a certain percentage of importance:

See the full list here.