What is Livability?

Communities that are livable offer diverse features that appeal to people of all ages, incomes, and abilities. During a lifetime, people develop deep connections to their homes and communities. Our definition of livability considers the likelihood that everyone can continue to enjoy the vibrant communities they know and love as they age.

How the AARP Livability Index™ Platform Measures Livability

Livability Categories and Indicators

The AARP Livability Index™ platform considers seven categories: housing, neighborhood, transportation, environment, health, engagement, and opportunity. These categories capture the complex relationships of factors that produce a high quality of life for a diverse population across many ages.  For each category, the platform evaluates two types of indicators: metrics that describe current conditions and policies that can enhance community livability over time. Take a deeper dive into the categories and indicators, including the years of research behind them. We’ve also provided basic definitions to key terms that will help you get to know what livability is.

We update the AARP Livability Index™ scores annually, in the fall, contingent on data availability.

The AARP Livability Index™ Scoring

The AARP Livability Index™ platform draws from more than 50 different sources of data to give each neighborhood, city, county, or state an Overall Livability Score ranging from 0 to 100. Communities are also scored for each of the seven categories.

We compute scores by comparing communities to one another, so the average community receives a score of 50. Those communities with more livability-friendly practices earn a score of 50 or above and those facing obstacles to livability score lower.

In practice, there is no such thing as a perfect community, and so a score of 100 is not possible. A community would need to score perfectly in every category to reach an overall score of 100, but there are built-in trade-offs between categories. Adding more amenities will likely raise one category score, but then this work will also likely lead to increases in housing costs, which will then lower that score and balance out the overall score. The key is finding the right balance for you.  

Considerations in Reviewing Scores

A lower score for a neighborhood or community does not mean it’s unlivable. While a low score suggests a challenge to livability, it also represents an opportunity for community members and policymakers to work on improving livability. Every neighborhood and community has room to improve.

Different aspects of livability may be more or less important to each individual. We encourage you to take our community finder quiz or explore all communities to identify ones that score higher on measures that match your needs and preferences.

For some metrics, such as access to stores or parks, higher values are better. For others, like local industrial pollution or housing costs, lower values are better. We note in each indicator description whether higher or lower values are better.

Livability Scores and Geography

Scores are calculated at the neighborhood level and then aggregated up to the city, county, and state levels. Scores for larger levels of geographies trend towards the middle (i.e., 50) and have a narrower range because those scores are based on averages for all neighborhoods within that particular geographic region and larger areas contain a mix of high and low-scoring neighborhoods.

Potential Inconsistencies

You may find the newest community features, elements, or policies in your neighborhood are not reflected in the AARP Livability Index™ platform. What you see here represents a snapshot of current conditions within a community or neighborhood, based on datasets that are available for the entire country. We update the platform annually, but the data sources may somewhat lag behind your experience within your community.

Additional Characteristics

The platform also includes characteristics for each location that don’t go into the score, but may be of interest. These data points include information on the people who live there, the local climate, and other topics. Data on the people who live in each neighborhood can help policymakers and other community leaders ensure that all residents have access to features of a livable community and should not be used to discriminate in any way.