Ausitn - 10 best Cities to Stay Young - CBS News

Visit Boston and one of the first things you're sure to hear is that, for a big city, the population is among the youngest in the country. Jam-packed with universities, such as Harvard, MIT, Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern and Tufts, a whopping 72 percent of the population is under the age of 44.


But when it comes to staying young, Boston ranks No. 7 -- well behind San Francisco, where the average age has shot up to 38.5, according to RealAge.com, a website that seeks to gauge your age based on a different yardstick.

To be sure, your chronological age is something that doesn't vary. But it takes nothing more than a glancing knowledge of different 50-year-olds to know that how well you age can vary markedly. The results of RealAge web-based tests, compiled by zip code, allowed the company to compile listings of the metropolitan areas that are most supportive of good health and those that are least so. 

The 10 cities that ranked top in helping residents say young were:
1. San Francisco, Calif.
2. Salt Lake City, Utah
3. San Diego, Calif.
4. Minneapolis-St Paul, Minn.
5. Denver, Colo.
6. Raleigh, N.C.
7. Boston, Mass.
8. Austin, Texas
9. Washington, D.C/Baltimore, Md.
10. Los Angeles, Calif.

Notably, the reasons each city ranked where it did varied markedly. Boston is one of the best cities for lower cholesterol and health insurance. Austin made the grade for high optimism and low stress. Salt Lake City was notable for the happiest marriages and lowest rates of smoking. Want to see how you city ranks? You can check out RealAge's Top Cities for Staying Young here.
And see our related post on cities that make you old before your time -- Cities that make you age too fast.

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Austin cited as one of the next "youth-magnet" cities

According to the Journal, "Austin has become a gathering place for tech- and arts-conscious young adults." The paper also lauded Austin for its cultural attractions like the Austin City Limits Music Festival and South by Southwest. But some of those polled by the Journal expressed concern over how strongly Austin will bounce back from the recession.

What do Washington D.C., Seattle, New York, Portland and Austin all have in common? They are the five cities that top a new Wall Street Journal poll on where young people are likely to flock once economic recovery takes hold.

The Journal polled a panel of experts, from demographers to economists, on where young college graduates are likely to congregate in coming years. Austin ranked fifth on the list with the lowest unemployment rate of the five cities and a relatively high median household income. The Capital of Texas didn't fare quite so well as the others on the education front, with 41.8 percent of 25-35 year olds holding a bachelors degree or higher compared with 61.3 percent in Washington and 64.2 percent in Seattle.

The top 10 post-recession boom towns for the young and ambitious:

1. (tie) Washington D.C.
1. Seattle
3. New York
4. Portland
5. Austin
6. San Jose, Calif.
7. Denver
8. Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
9. Dallas
10. Chicago

Austin Business Journal