Provo, Utah, Is America’s Most Neighborly City of 2026

San Francisco and Boise, Idaho, take second and third in a ranking shaped by what Americans say matters most

---

Happy National Good Neighbor Day. Today Neighbor.com is naming the 2026 Most Neighborly Cities in America, and Provo, Utah, takes the top spot. San Francisco is No. 2 and Boise, Idaho, is No. 3.

This year, Americans helped write the formula. We asked 1,011 U.S. adults what makes a city neighborly, and their answers set how much each of our seven measures counts. Safety mattered most, and helping the people next door came in second. Then we scored 100 U.S. cities on crime, charitable giving, volunteering, voter turnout, population growth and local sharing.

The top three span every size group: Provo leads our small cities, Boise leads the medium cities and San Francisco leads the large ones.

The 2026 Most Neighborly Cities in America

1. Provo, UT
2. San Francisco, CA
3. Boise, ID
4. Madison, WI
5. Virginia Beach, VA
6. Ogden, UT
7. San Diego, CA
8. Richmond, VA
9. Seattle, WA
10. Salt Lake City, UT

The top 10 at a glance

Each number is the city’s rank out of 100 in that category, where 1 is best. For the two crime categories, 1 means the least crime.

Rank	City	Low violent crime	Low property crime	Charitable giving	Volunteering	Voter turnout	Population growth	Local sharing
1	Provo, UT	4	6	1	T-3	27	97	2
2	San Francisco, CA	32	59	7	20	1	32	23
3	Boise, ID	12	2	38	5	T-24	51	10
4	Madison, WI	6	22	72	13	9	28	22
5	Virginia Beach, VA	1	14	24	T-22	3	73	78
6	Ogden, UT	27	19	21	T-3	30	48	12
7	San Diego, CA	19	16	53	49	4	40	21
8	Richmond, VA	26	70	22	T-22	6	16	55
9	Seattle, WA	64	91	43	11	13	8	6
10	Salt Lake City, UT	77	95	6	10	20	52	1

A “T” means a tie. Cities in the same state often share a volunteering rate.

1. Provo, Utah

Small city · 2024 rank: No. 5

Low violent crime: 4 · Low property crime: 6 · Charitable giving: 1 · Volunteering: T-3 · Voter turnout: 27 · Population growth: 97 · Local sharing: 2

Provo won with a big heart and safe streets. According to IRS data, Provo-area taxpayers claimed charitable gifts worth 4.5% of their income, the highest rate on our list and more than three times the 100-city average. Provo finished in the top 10 in five of the seven categories, including No. 2 for local sharing and No. 4 for low violent crime, and it has finished in the top six in each of the last four rankings.

2. San Francisco, California

Large city · 2024 rank: No. 80

Low violent crime: 32 · Low property crime: 59 · Charitable giving: 7 · Volunteering: 20 · Voter turnout: 1 · Population growth: 32 · Local sharing: 23

San Francisco climbed 78 spots, the biggest jump on the list, and cracked the top 10 for the first time. Its November 2024 mayoral race, which shared the ballot with the presidential election, drew 75% of registered voters, the best turnout of any city we ranked. San Franciscans also claimed charitable gifts worth 2.4% of their income, No. 7 on the list.

3. Boise, Idaho

Medium city · 2024 rank: No. 12

Low violent crime: 12 · Low property crime: 2 · Charitable giving: 38 · Volunteering: 5 · Voter turnout: T-24 · Population growth: 51 · Local sharing: 10

Boise is the top medium-size city and makes the top 10 for the first time, with top-12 finishes in four categories. Only Palm Bay, Florida, has less property crime. And 70% of adults in the Boise area volunteered or pitched in to help others, No. 5 on the list.

4. Madison, Wisconsin

Medium city · 2024 rank: No. 2

Low violent crime: 6 · Low property crime: 22 · Charitable giving: 72 · Volunteering: 13 · Voter turnout: 9 · Population growth: 28 · Local sharing: 22

Madison has finished in the top five in every edition of this ranking since 2021. It’s No. 6 for low violent crime, and 60% of registered voters turned out for its 2023 mayoral race. Charitable giving is the only category where Madison comes in below average.

5. Virginia Beach, Virginia

Medium city · 2024 rank: No. 3

Low violent crime: 1 · Low property crime: 14 · Charitable giving: 24 · Volunteering: T-22 · Voter turnout: 3 · Population growth: 73 · Local sharing: 78

Virginia Beach has the least violent crime of any city we ranked: about 100 violent crimes per 100,000 people, roughly one-seventh of the average. It’s also No. 3 for voter turnout at 72%. Low local sharing and flat population growth are what hold it back.

6. Ogden, Utah

Small city · 2024 rank: No. 6

Low violent crime: 27 · Low property crime: 19 · Charitable giving: 21 · Volunteering: T-3 · Voter turnout: 30 · Population growth: 48 · Local sharing: 12

Ogden holds at No. 6 for the second edition in a row. It shares Utah’s volunteer rate of 70.8% with Provo, and it’s No. 12 for local sharing and No. 19 for low property crime.

7. San Diego, California

Large city · 2024 rank: No. 60

Low violent crime: 19 · Low property crime: 16 · Charitable giving: 53 · Volunteering: 49 · Voter turnout: 4 · Population growth: 40 · Local sharing: 21

San Diego jumped 53 spots to reach the top 10 for the first time. Its last mayoral race was also on the November 2024 ballot, and 70% of registered voters took part. Among the 33 large cities we ranked, only El Paso has less property crime, and only El Paso and Tucson have less violent crime.

8. Richmond, Virginia

Medium city · 2024 rank: No. 9

Low violent crime: 26 · Low property crime: 70 · Charitable giving: 22 · Volunteering: T-22 · Voter turnout: 6 · Population growth: 16 · Local sharing: 55

Richmond makes the top 10 for the third edition in a row. It’s No. 6 for voter turnout, with 68% of registered voters casting a ballot in its 2020 mayoral race, and the city grew about 1% in a year.

9. Seattle, Washington

Large city · 2024 rank: No. 8

Low violent crime: 64 · Low property crime: 91 · Charitable giving: 43 · Volunteering: 11 · Voter turnout: 13 · Population growth: 8 · Local sharing: 6

Seattle is No. 6 for local sharing and No. 11 for volunteering, and its population grew 1.5% in a year. If its property crime were just average, it would rank No. 5 overall.

10. Salt Lake City, Utah

Small city · 2024 rank: No. 32

Low violent crime: 77 · Low property crime: 95 · Charitable giving: 6 · Volunteering: 10 · Voter turnout: 20 · Population growth: 52 · Local sharing: 1

Salt Lake City is No. 1 for local sharing. For every 100,000 residents, 158 people listed or rented space on Neighbor.com in the past year, more than five times the 100-city average. It’s also No. 6 for charitable giving and No. 10 for volunteering, and it’s back in the top 10 for the first time since 2023.

Most Neighborly Cities by size

San Francisco, Boise and Provo each took the top spot in their size group. We ranked 33 large, 34 medium and 33 small cities.

Large cities

1. San Francisco, CA
2. San Diego, CA
3. Seattle, WA
4. Boston, MA
5. Washington, D.C.

Medium cities

1. Boise, ID
2. Madison, WI
3. Virginia Beach, VA
4. Richmond, VA
5. Cape Coral, FL

Small cities

1. Provo, UT
2. Ogden, UT
3. Salt Lake City, UT
4. Sarasota, FL
5. Providence, RI

How well do Americans know the people next door?

Alongside the rankings, our survey asked Americans about their own neighbors:

• Many Americans can’t name their neighbors. A third (34%) know two or fewer neighbors by first name, and 1 in 10 don’t know any.
• Neighbors show up in a crisis. 94% say they’d help their neighbors if a natural disaster or emergency hit their area. Fewer (79%) say they’d ask a neighbor for help.
• People who know a few names are more willing to ask. Among people who know none of their neighbors by name, 49% say they’d be unlikely to ask one for help in a disaster. Among people who know three or more, it’s about 15%.
• Young adults feel close but know fewer names. Half of adults under 35 (50%) know two or fewer neighbors by name, compared with 24% of those 55 and older. Both groups say they feel about equally close to their neighbors.
• Few young adults tie voting to neighborliness. With the midterms five weeks away, only 8% of adults under 35 gave voting the top importance rating for a neighborly city, compared with 24% of adults 55 and older.

“From Provo to San Francisco to Boise, this year’s winners prove that neighborliness has nothing to do with city size. It’s about people who give generously and show up for each other,” said Joseph Woodbury, CEO and co-founder of Neighbor. “That’s the spirit we’re building at Neighbor.com, where people across the country turn a spare garage or driveway into a way to help someone down the street. A third of Americans can name two or fewer of their neighbors, so this Good Neighbor Day, our ask is simple: go meet the people next door.”

Full rankings: all 100 cities

“—” means the city didn’t receive a published rank in 2024.

Rank	City	Size group	2024 rank
1	Provo, UT	Small	5
2	San Francisco, CA	Large	80
3	Boise, ID	Medium	12
4	Madison, WI	Medium	2
5	Virginia Beach, VA	Medium	3
6	Ogden, UT	Small	6
7	San Diego, CA	Large	60
8	Richmond, VA	Medium	9
9	Seattle, WA	Large	8
10	Salt Lake City, UT	Small	32
11	Sarasota, FL	Small	26
12	Boston, MA	Large	29
13	Washington, D.C.	Large	31
14	Providence, RI	Small	28
15	Palm Bay, FL	Small	65
16	Phoenix, AZ	Large	13
17	Knoxville, TN	Small	39
18	Austin, TX	Large	33
19	Portland, OR	Large	20
20	Bridgeport, CT	Small	71
21	San Jose, CA	Large	30
22	Cape Coral, FL	Medium	50
23	Atlanta, GA	Medium	—
24	Tampa, FL	Medium	16
25	Charleston, SC	Small	59
26	Raleigh, NC	Medium	14
27	Colorado Springs, CO	Medium	1
28	Omaha, NE	Medium	22
29	Los Angeles, CA	Large	89
30	New Haven, CT	Small	51
31	Poughkeepsie, NY	Small	66
32	Miami, FL	Medium	—
33	Allentown, PA	Small	23
34	Chicago, IL	Large	69
35	Daytona Beach, FL	Small	75
36	Denver, CO	Large	83
37	New York, NY	Large	—
38	McAllen, TX	Small	46
39	Columbia, SC	Small	63
40	Winston-Salem, NC	Medium	17
41	Las Vegas, NV	Large	—
42	Columbus, OH	Large	41
43	El Paso, TX	Large	18
44	Charlotte, NC	Large	68
45	Grand Rapids, MI	Small	44
46	Jacksonville, FL	Large	37
47	Fayetteville, AR	Small	48
48	Honolulu, HI	Medium	25
49	Nashville, TN	Large	61
50	Riverside, CA	Medium	72
51	Tucson, AZ	Large	43
52	Worcester, MA	Small	56
53	Minneapolis, MN	Medium	10
54	Pittsburgh, PA	Medium	11
55	Sacramento, CA	Medium	70
56	Greenville, SC	Small	53
57	Lakeland, FL	Small	57
58	San Antonio, TX	Large	—
59	Cincinnati, OH	Medium	42
60	Albany, NY	Small	78
61	Bakersfield, CA	Medium	—
62	Tulsa, OK	Medium	24
63	Spokane, WA	Medium	19
64	Durham, NC	Medium	54
65	Harrisburg, PA	Small	15
66	Des Moines, IA	Medium	4
67	Indianapolis, IN	Large	35
68	Dallas, TX	Large	—
69	Philadelphia, PA	Large	77
70	Baltimore, MD	Large	36
71	Hartford, CT	Small	52
72	Oklahoma City, OK	Large	40
73	Kansas City, MO	Medium	73
74	Oxnard, CA	Small	38
75	Stockton, CA	Medium	47
76	Augusta, GA	Small	21
77	Greensboro, NC	Medium	81
78	Milwaukee, WI	Large	34
79	Orlando, FL	Medium	—
80	Fresno, CA	Large	74
81	Jackson, MS	Small	—
82	Rochester, NY	Small	7
83	Syracuse, NY	Small	64
84	Houston, TX	Large	—
85	Baton Rouge, LA	Medium	—
86	Akron, OH	Small	58
87	Buffalo, NY	Medium	27
88	Springfield, MA	Small	67
89	New Orleans, LA	Medium	—
90	Louisville, KY	Large	49
91	Albuquerque, NM	Large	79
92	Cleveland, OH	Medium	—
93	Toledo, OH	Medium	55
94	Wichita, KS	Medium	45
95	Dayton, OH	Small	82
96	St. Louis, MO	Medium	—
97	Birmingham, AL	Small	76
98	Little Rock, AR	Small	62
99	Detroit, MI	Large	—
100	Memphis, TN	Large	—

Methodology

Step 1: We asked Americans what makes a city neighborly

On Sept. 24–25, 2026, we surveyed 1,011 U.S. adults through SurveyMonkey. We asked them to rate seven things from 1 (most important) to 7 (least important) for what makes a city neighborly. We weighted the answers by age so the mix matches U.S. adults (2023 Census estimates). Because the survey used an opt-in panel, a traditional margin of error does not apply.

The more important people said something was, the more it counts in the score. We flipped each average rating so a higher number means more important, scaled the results so safety equals 2, and rounded to the nearest half point. Safety stood out at ×2; every other survey item came out at ×1.5.

What people rated	Average rating (1 = most important)	What it controls in the score	Weight
Community safety	1.89	Low violent crime / low property crime	×2 / ×1
Helping neighbors directly and sharing things with neighbors	2.68 and 3.83	Local sharing (the two are averaged)	×1.5
Community stability	3.11	Population growth	×1.5
Volunteering	3.62	Volunteering	×1.5
Voter participation	3.62	Voter turnout	×1.5
Charitable giving	3.77	Charitable giving	×1.5

Violent crime gets safety’s full weight and property crime gets half. No public data measures neighbors helping each other directly, so “helping neighbors directly” and “sharing things with neighbors” are combined into one local sharing measure. Population growth stands in for community stability.

Step 2: We gathered seven measures for 100 cities

We ranked the same 100 cities as our 2024 list, from New York to Poughkeepsie, New York, in three size groups: 33 large, 34 medium and 33 small.

Measure	What we measured	Source	Year
Low violent crime	Violent crimes per 100,000 people	FBI Crime Data Explorer	2025
Low property crime	Property crimes per 100,000 people	FBI Crime Data Explorer	2025
Charitable giving	Charitable gifts claimed on tax returns, as a share of income, in each city’s primary county	IRS	2023
Volunteering	Adults who volunteered or informally helped others, by metro area or state	AmeriCorps and U.S. Census Bureau	2023
Voter turnout	Turnout in the most recent contested mayoral race with complete numbers	Local election results	2019–2026
Population growth	Population change over one year	U.S. Census Bureau	2024–25
Local sharing	People who listed or rented space on Neighbor.com, per 100,000 residents	Neighbor.com marketplace	Past 12 months

Step 3: We scored each city against the 100-city average

Crime is counted per 100,000 people and giving is a percent of income, so the measures can’t simply be added together. Instead, we measured how far each city sits above or below the 100-city average in each category, in standard deviations. Less crime counts as a plus. No city can score more than three standard deviations above or below average in any one category, which limits how much any single extreme number can swing a city’s score. Local sharing is measured on a log scale for the same reason.

Each category score is multiplied by its survey weight, and the seven results are added up. The city with the highest total is No. 1.

Data notes

• Volunteering isn’t measured for individual cities. Cities use their metro area’s rate when the survey sample is large enough and their state’s rate otherwise, so cities in the same state can share a number and tie.
• Voter turnout comes from each city’s most recent contested mayoral race with complete numbers, so race years range from 2019 to 2026. Races held alongside a presidential election tend to draw more voters. Sarasota, Florida, whose mayor is chosen by the city commission, and five cities without available registered-voter counts (Las Vegas, Atlanta, Bakersfield, Orlando and Baton Rouge) were given the average turnout of the other cities.
• Crime data is from 2025 for most cities. Raleigh, Augusta and Cape Coral use 2024 figures, and New Orleans and Baton Rouge use 2023. Orlando, Daytona Beach and Jackson, Mississippi, didn’t have complete recent FBI data and were given the average of the other cities.
• Changes since 2024 partly reflect new data sources and this year’s survey-based weights, not just changes in the cities themselves.

Happy National Good Neighbor Day

Start with the people next door. Learn a name, lend a hand, or share what you’re not using. If you have a spare garage, driveway or closet, you can list it on Neighbor.com and help someone nearby find the space they need.