Boston’s famed brainpower still starts with Harvard – #1 in our University subcategory – but the real story is who stays after graduation. A deep bench of grads powers the city’s #14 Educational Attainment and #6 Business Ecosystem rankings, with founders and funders choosing to build careers (and companies) here. Incredibly, Boston now ranks #1 in our Weather subcategory, with outdoor time well supported by a #19 Green Space finish and a #24 for Air Quality.
Beantown is building on a good thing. Logan International Airport’s Terminal E expansion added smart-glass gates and next-gen processing to handle record traffic, while the 51-story South Station Tower is nearing completion, stacking 166 condos and offices directly atop Amtrak, MBTA and intercity buses – an everyday upgrade to urban mobility that underpins Boston’s #18 ranking for Standard of Living and #29 for Health. The hospitality and cultural pipeline is equally ambitious. Raffles Boston’s 2023 debut reset luxury expectations, adding to a surprisingly robust number of plush stays. On the innovation waterfront, Eli Lilly’s state-of-the-art $700-million Seaport Innovation Center opened in 2024, anchoring genetic-medicine R&D and Gateway Labs space for biotech start-ups and collaboration – evidence of Boston’s impressive #4 rank for Economic Output.