10 cities in the US where the American Dream is alive and well

• The American Dream includes homeownership, economic opportunity and diverse communities.
• To find US cities with these characteristics, SmartAsset used five metrics to rank over 200 cities: homeownership rate, diversity rate, upward mobility rate, median home value and unemployment rate.
• Key findings include the fact that six of the 10 cities remain the same as the 2017 ranking, and half of the cities in the top 10 are in Texas.

It is difficult to come up with any one definition for the American Dream that every American will agree on.

But certainly for many people, it includes homeownership, economic opportunity and diverse communities. For these people, they need to live in a city where homes, and mortgages, are affordable and where it’s possible to climb the economic ladder. Below we look at this special combination of traits to rank the best places for living the American Dream.

In order to rank the best places for living the American Dream, we looked at data on five metrics. Specifically we looked at the homeownership rate, diversity rate, upward mobility rate, median home value and unemployment rate.

See the methodology for this ranking.

Key Findings

• The dream endures. Six of last year’s top 10 found themselves in the top 10 again this year. Those repeat cities are: West Valley City, Utah; Midland, Texas; Aurora Illinois; Round Rock, Texas; Aurora, Colorado and Rochester, Minnesota.
• Texas is where the dream lives. Half of the cities in our top 10 are located in Texas. Cities in Texas tend to have affordable homes and plenty of good jobs, driving down the unemployment rate and improving upward economic mobility.

This is the 2018 edition of this study. Check out our 2017 version here.

Read on for the 10 cities where the American dream is still alive and well:

SEE ALSO: 16 signs you've 'made it' in America

10. Rochester, Minnesota

Our list ends in Rochester, Minnesota, one of the best cities for working women. Rochester ranks well thanks to high upward mobility and high homeownership rates. In those metrics, Rochester ranks 11th and 22nd, respectively.

In fact, if it weren’t for the lack of diversity (Rochester ranks 235 out of 256 in diversity), this city would rank higher.

9. Amarillo, Texas

Amarillo jumped up nine spots from last year’s study to take ninth this year. Like other Texas cities, Amarillo residents enjoy a plethora of available jobs. The city has an overall unemployment rate of only 3.2%.

It is also one of the friendliest home-buying markets in the country, judging by the homeownership rate. Over 60% of households in Amarillo own home. For most residents, homeownership should not be an unattainable goal, either. The median home in Amarillo is worth less than $127,000.

8. San Jose, California

San Jose scores very well in all metrics bar two — both related to housing. Unfortunately the majority of residents in San Jose are largely unable to afford the median home. According to our data, the median home in San Jose is worth over $800,000 by far the most in our top 10 and one of the highest in the study.

Balancing out those unaffordable homes however are a low unemployment rate, high amounts of diversity, a lot of economic upward mobility and rising incomes.