Gainesville Awards & Recognition

City of Gainesville earns LEED Gold for sustainability, resilience

• Gainesville certified as an official Bee City USA®

• Gainesville ranks no. 3 on Forbes Best Places To Live In Florida In 2022

• Gainesville ranks no. 72 on Livability.com's Top 100 Best Places to Live, October 2020 
• Gainesville ranks no. 3 on Smart Asset's list of Best Places for Career Opportunities in the COVID-19 Recession, August 2020
• Gainesville ranks no. 13 on Money Inc's 20 Best Places to Live in Florida, February 2020
• Gainesville ranks no. 7 on tollfreeforwarding.com's Top 10 College Towns to Start a Business, January 2020

• Gainesville ranks no. 10 on Livability.com's Top 10 Best College Towns, October 2019
• Gainesville ranks no. 6 on Market Watch's Best and Most Affordable Places to Live in Florida, September 2019
• Gainesville ranks no. 92 on Livability.com's Top 100 Best Places to Live, June 2019
• Gainesville ranks no. 11 on BestCollegeReviews.org's 50 Best College Towns in America, December 2019

• Gainesville ranks no. 3 on WalletHub.com's Best Midsized College Towns & Cities in America (no. 18 overall), December 2018

• Gainesville ranks No. 1 in Florida on Zippia's Best City in Each State to Start Your Career, Aug. 2018

• Gainesville ranks no. 9 on Livability.com's 10 Best College Towns, Aug. 2018
• Gainesville ranks no. 38 (no. 1 in Florida) on Livability.com's Top 100 Best Places to Live, Jan. 2018

• Gainesville ranks no. 12 on WalletHub.com's Best Midsize Sports City (no. 56 overall), November 2017
• Gainesville ranks no. 81 on Livability.com's Top 100 Best Places to Live, 2017
• Gainesville ranks no. 15 on Livability.com's list of the Best Cities for Entrepreneurs 2017, April 2017

• Gainesville ranks no. 29 on Bicycling magazine's list of the 50 Best Bike Cities, Sept. 2016
• Gainesville ranks no. 2 on ValuePenguin's list of the Most Environmentally Friendly Cities, August 2016
• Gainesville ranks no. 14 on the American Institute for Economic Research's Employment Destinations Index, July 2016
• Gainesville ranks no. 16 on the American Institute for Economic Research's College Destinations Index, April 2016

• Gainesville named the Best Midsize College City in America by WalletHub.com, Dec. 2015
• Gainesville ranked no. 67 on Livability.com's Best Beers in the Best Cities list, Dec. 2015
• Gainesville ranked no. 75 on Goodcall.com's 2015 Best Cities for Black Entrepreneurs, Oct. 2015
• Gainesville ranked no. 4 on fDi's American Cities of the Future, Human Capital and Lifestyle category, Sept. 2015
• Gainesville ranked no. 30 on WalletHub.lcom's Best Cities for Sports Fans, Sept. 2015
• Gainesville ranked no. 7 on Livability.com's Top 10 College Towns 2015, Aug. 2015
• Gainesville ranks no. 3 on the American Institute for Economic Research's Employment Destination Index for Small Metro Areas, May 2015
• Aspen Institute awards Santa Fe College with the 2015 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, March 2015
• Gainesville ranks no. 31 on NerdWallet.com's list of Best Places for Women-Owned Businesses, March 2015
• Gainesville ranks no. 22 on The Advocate magazine's Queerest Cities in 2015, Jan. 2015

• Gainesville ranks no. 12 "small metros" on the Milken Institute's Best Cities' for Successful Aging report, Nov. 2014
• Gainesville ranks no. 37 on Bicycling magazine's list of the Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities, Sept. 2014
• Gainesville ranks no. 3 on Forbes' list of 10 Best and Worst Cities for Work-Life Balance, Aug. 2014
• Gainesville ranks no. 12 on Bloomberg's list of Top 25 Bike-to-Work Cities, Aug. 2014
• Gainesville ranks no. 14 on FiveThirtyEight.com's list of top public transit cities, July 2014
• Gainesville listed on Kiplinger's list of 10 Great College Towns to Retire to, July 2014
• Gainesville ranks no. 5 on Movoto.com's list of Top 10 Best Places to Live in Florida, May 2014
• Gainesville ranks no. 35 on Livability.com's Top 100 Best Places to Live, Jan. 2014
• Gainesville ranks no. 5 "small metros" in "The AIER College Destinations Index," Nov. 2013
• Gainesville ranks no. 6 on NerdWallet.com's list of 10 Cities with the Fastest Growing Incomes in America, Oct. 2013
• Gainesville ranks no. 34 on Livability.com's Top 100 Best Places to Live, Oct. 2013
• Gainesville ranked no. 6 on the Milken Institute's Best Cities for Successful Aging (small metros), Aug. 2013
• Gainesville ranked no. 4 on Sparefoot.com's list of America's Fastest Growing College Towns, Aug. 2013
• Gainesville featured on SafeWise.com's list of Four Cities Taking Small Steps to Make Big Changes in the Environment, Aug. 2013
• Gainesville ranked no. 1 on NerdWallet.com's Top 10 Cities on the Rise, Aug. 2013 
• Gainesville ranked no. 3 on Livability.com's Top 10 College Towns 2013, Aug. 2013
• Gainesville ranked no. 2 on NerdWallet.com's list of America's Fastest Growing Cities, June 2013
• Gainesville recognized on Forbes' list of 25 Best Places to Retire in 2013, Feb. 2013
• Gainesville noted in Retirement Living: College Towns Lure Boomers, Jan. 2013
• Gainesville recognized on list of Six Best Cities for Young Professionals to Start a Career, Sept. 2012
• Gainesville recognized on MSN's list of Best College Towns for Adult Job-Seekers, Sept. 2012
• Gainesville recognized as bronze level Walk Friendly Communities, Sept. 2012
• Gainesville ranked on AARP's list of 10 Best Places to Live on $100 a Day, July 2012
• Gainesville ranked no. 17 on The Atlantic Cities' America's Leading Creative Class Metros list, July 2012
• Gainesville ranked no. 1 in Florida and no. 101 nationally on Forbes' list of The Best Places for Business and Careers, June 2012
• Gainesville ranked no. 14 on The Atlantic Cities' America's Brainiest Cities list, June 2012
• Gainesville ranked no. 13 on Huffington Post's list of Communities for Retirement, May 2012
• Gainesville ranked no. 8 on Amazon's list of Well-Read Cities, May 2012
• Gainesville ranked no. 6 on The Atlantic Cities' Best Places for New College Grads list, May 2012
• Gainesville ranked no. 23 on The Daily Beast's list of America's Greenest Cities 2012, April 2012
• Gainesville ranked no. 6 in nation of the hardest working cities in America by PARADE magazine in March 2012
• Gainesville ranked no. 19 in nation (no. 1 in Florida) in best commute times in "American Community Survey," a report issued by the U.S. Census Bureau, Jan. 2012
• Gainesville ranked high in book titled "For the Love of Cities," April 2011
• Gainesville ranked no. 7 on the top 25 greenest cities in the U.S. by The Daily Beast, April 2011
• Alachua County ranked no. 16 of healthiest counties in Florida, March 2011
• Gainesville ranked no. 8 of mid-sized cities on the "2010 State of Well-Being" report by Gallup-Healthways, March 2011
• Gainesville ranked no. 9 on the "Top Ten Best College Towns" by ParentsandColleges.com, Dec. 2010
• Gainesville ranked no. 14 of "America's Top 25 Smartest Cities" by Portfolio.com, Dec. 2010
• Gainesville named one of five cities "Where to Retire," Oct. 2010
• Gainesville ranked on the 2010 Milken Institute Best-Performing Cities Index (ranked first in Florida and 86th nationally), Oct. 2010
• Gainesville named on the "10 Amazing Local Farmers Markets" target="_blank" list, Livability.com, Sept. 2010
• Alachua County named one of the nation's 100 Best Communities for Young People by America's Promise Alliance, Sept. 2010
• Gainesville ranked no. 1 "Top 10 College Towns: Great Cities for School & Life After Graduation" by Livability.com, Sept. 2010
• Four local high schools (three in Gainesville) ranked on Newsweek's Best High Schools list, June 2010
• Gainesville ranked no. 16 of "America's Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities" by Bicycling Magazine, May 2010
• Gainesville named one of the "Best Places to Work Out" by Men's Health, March 2010
• Gainesville ranked no. 11 "gayest city" in The Advocate, Feb. 2010
• Gainesville ranked no. 4 "small metros" in "The AIER College Destinations Index," Sept. 2009
• Gainesville named one of 13 of "America's Best College Towns," Sept. 2009
• Gainesville named no. 10 "mighty micro" in "Next Cities: The 60 U.S. Hotspots for Young, Talented Workers," July 2009 
• Gainesville named nation's first Butterfly City, June 2009
• Smithsonian Names Gainesville "Where to Live Next," 2008
• Black Enterprise magazine ranks Gainesville 13th on their "Top 20 Best Places to Retire," 2008
• Gainesville Ranks #1 in Cities Ranked and Rated, which studied more than 400 metropolitan areas in the U.S. and Canada, 2007
• Named the "No. 1 Place to Retire During an Economic Downturn" by SmartMoney.com, 2008
• Ranked 22 on Forbes.com's list of "America's Smartest Cities," 2008
• Named one of the "50 Best Places to Live and Play" by National Geographic Adventure magazine, 2007
• NuWire Investor ranked Gainesville #3 on their list of "Top 10 Small College Towns for Investment," 2007
• Gainesville's Eastside High School Ranks Top Six in the Nation, Newsweek's Best High Schools rankings, 2006
• Nineteen Gainesville Area Schools Receive Most Improved in FCAT writing scores, 2006
• Top Ten Cities in the USA for Outdoor Activities, Sperling's Best Places, 2005
• Most Technologically Advanced City in Florida (30th in the nation), 2005
• Growth Management Pilot Community, 2005 
• Downtown Festival & Art Show ranked #40 in nation by Greg Lawler's Art Fair Sourcebook, 2005
• Tree City USA, National Arbor Day Foundation, annually since 1984 
• Silver-Level Bicycle-Friendly Community Award, League of American Bicyclists, annually since 2004 
• #3 Mid-Market City, 100 Top Deals and Hot Markets, Southern Business & Development Magazine, 2004
• #11 of the Top 15 Best Places to Reinvent Your Life, AARP Magazine, 2003
• Gold Well City USA Award, Wellness Councils of America, 2003
• #1 Best Place to Live in America, Money Magazine, 1995