Web site ranks Toledo 11th for quality of life

Housing costs, work commute give city edge

Toledo is the only Ohio city ranked in the top 20 in quality of life by the financial Web site NerdWallet.

Toledo ranks 11th among U.S. cities for quality of life, according to a report from NerdWallet, a financial literacy Web site.

NerdWallet ranked 100 cities on six factors: housing costs as a percentage of income, percentage of population with health insurance, percentage of people with incomes below the poverty level, unemployment, mean weekly hours worked, and mean travel time to work. The six factors were weighted equally.

Toledo did especially well in the housing costs and commute time categories.

Six of the top 10 cities are in the Midwest, led by Madison, Wis. NerdWallet said strong local economies and high rates of affordability helped Midwestern cities rank highly. Toledo is the only Ohio city in the top 20. Columbus ranks 22nd, Cincinnati 25th, and Cleveland 62nd. Detroit was 88th. It was the only Michigan city ranked.

Miami was last among the 100 cities, just behind Santa Ana, Calif.

NerdWallet said it picked the categories because stress stemming from income, employment, and poverty can severely affect people’s well-being. It said spending too much time working or commuting adversely affects how much people enjoy their lives.

Health insecurity is also a stressor. In NerdWallet’s top 10 cities, 87.5 percent of people have health insurance, compared to 81.4 percent elsewhere in the United States.