When you think of the phrase "Quality of Life", what exactly pops into your head, Massachusetts? A fancy car like a BMW, all the latest expensive gadgets, personal freedom or maybe just a quiet, cozy existence in a nice neighborhood?

I will always choose that last option over any of the others. A nice place to live. In a quiet part of town. With awesome neighbors....Yep. That's for me. Absolutely. And perhaps a front lawn that mows itself so I don't have to, LOL.

The only reason I asked that question is because, according to a recent ranking issued by LawnStarter, there's a couple of cities in the Commonwealth that offer the best "quality of life." In fact, one Massachusetts city is #2 in the entire country!

LawnStarter looked at 500 American cities and compared them over 16 categories including food security, unemployment rates, life expectancy, air and water quality, mental and physical health, and many more.

And out of 500 cities, there were 5 Massachusetts cities just within the top 100! We'll spotlight those 4 other cities in a moment. First, let's take a look at the top 20 including the Massachusetts city that was almost #1.

The Top 20 Leading Cities for Quality of Life:

  1. Redmond, WA
  2. Newton, MA
  3. Woodbury, MN
  4. Bellevue, WA
  5. Pleasanton, CA
  6. Carmel, IN
  7. Plymouth, MN
  8. San Ramon, CA
  9. Irvine, CA
  10. Castle Rock, CO
  11. Redwood City, CA
  12. Fremont, CA
  13. Sunnyvale, CA
  14. Naperville, IL
  15. Seattle, WA
  16. Fishers, IN
  17. Livermore, CA
  18. Newport Beach, CA
  19. Rochester, MN
  20. Overland Park, KS

Did you see that? Did you notice that one Massachusetts town sandwiched between all the California, Minnesota, and Washington towns? Pretty impressive (and a pretty high ranking) for a town right here in the Bay State!

However, that's only the tip of the iceberg. FOUR other Massachusetts towns also landed in the top 100 for best quality of life. Let's hear a big round of applause for Cambridge (just outside the top 20 at #26), Somerville (#37), Boston (#70), and Quincy (#85).

Beam with pride, Massachusetts. That's absolutely something to be proud of. For a complete look at the rankings (and all 500 cities and towns), visit LawnStarter's website here. It's worth checking out!

LOOK: Best Beers From Every State

To find the best beer in each state and Washington D.C., Stacker analyzed January 2020 data from BeerAdvocate, a website that gathers user scores for beer in real-time. BeerAdvocate makes its determinations by compiling consumer ratings for all 50 states and Washington D.C. and applying a weighted rank to each. The weighted rank pulls the beer toward the list's average based on the number of ratings it has and aims to allow lesser-known beers to increase in rank. Only beers with at least 10 rankings to be considered; we took it a step further to only include beers with at least 100 user rankings in our gallery. Keep reading to find out what the best beer is in each of the 50 states and Washington D.C.

Gallery Credit: Angela Underwood

LOOK: Food history from the year you were born

From product innovations to major recalls, Stacker researched what happened in food history every year since 1921, according to news and government sources.
 

Gallery Credit: Joni Sweet

50 Most Popular Chain Restaurants in America

YouGov investigated the most popular dining brands in the country, and Stacker compiled the list to give readers context on the findings. Read on to look through America's vast and divergent variety of restaurants—maybe you'll even find a favorite or two.

Gallery Credit: Paul Feinstein

LOOK: These Are the 50 biggest retailers in America

Stacker compiled a list of the 50 biggest retailers in the country, using retail sales data from Kantar, provided by the National Retail Federation.

Gallery Credit: Madison Troyer & Zack Abrams

More From WBEC AM