“The Live Music Capital of the World” and a haven for creatives, we love this Texas town for being straight-up weird. It routinely ranks as a great place to live and as a city of the future, with exceptional scores for safety and happiness. It’s a serious hub for high tech talent, thanks to the University of Texas at Austin, and hosts deep technology and defense industry sectors. While it’s known for a dedication to the indie lifestyle, don’t let the reputation fool you. It’s earned the “Silicon Hills” nickname from major technology presences like 3M, Apple, PayPal, Google, Amazon, Oracle, and many more.