Its cost of living and “entrepreneurial buzz,” Fishers has been ranked the best place to live in the United States.
The magazine noted several companies — Navient, Roche Diagnostics, Stanley Security — have large operations in Fishers and praised officials for balancing industry and leisure.
“But don’t expect all work and no play in this vibrant young city,” the editors wrote. “The redeveloped downtown area boasts a number of restaurants and boutiques and a popular farmers’ market every Saturday that was recently voted one of Indiana’s best.”
The city’s attention to parks and open space was also highlighted.
“Fishers has emphasized preserving its green space and features 24 parks and 104 miles of nature and multi-use trails,” the magazine found. Money said the planned $40 million culinary center and incubator called “The Yard,” at 116th Street exit of I-69 should add more life to the city.
The editors examined 170,000 data points in 2,400 places with populations from 10,000 to 100,000. It was the 30th year that Money has ranked cities, but it focused on smaller municipalities this year because so many are growing.
Some of the major considerations were economic opportunity, sense of community and access to amenities. Money projected job growth in the city of nearly 90,000 to reach 11.6 percent in the next several years. The median household income is $87,000 and the median home price is $236,000.
“It’s a wonderful place to live,” Jennifer Vail told Money about her 12 years in Fishers. “There’s certainly no shortage of things to do. It’s kind of anything anyone would want, aside from having a mountain range or beach in your backyard. A small part of me doesn’t want the secret of Fishers to get out.”
Money ranked Fishers 12th in 2012, when Carmel was ranked first.
This year, Indiana had four cities in the top 25. In addition to Fishers, Carmel ranked No. 16, Avon is No. 17, and Greenwood is No. 22.