Built for the most expensive decision you'll make this decade.
Nabelly is a hyperlocal city guide platform providing data-driven insights for people considering moving to mid-size American cities — the kind of places between 100,000 and 400,000 people where real life actually happens. We started Nabelly because every other relocation site felt like a sales pitch. Glossy photos, vague claims, and somebody trying to sell you a house.
We do the opposite. We aggregate Census data, school ratings, real estate market information, and live property listings so you can make informed decisions about where to live next — not because a relocation company is paid to recommend it.
What we do
30 mid-size cities, in depth
Detailed guides for cities most national publications ignore — from Huntsville, AL to Fort Collins, CO. Real neighborhoods, real numbers, real trade-offs.
Side-by-side comparisons
Compare any two cities head-to-head on cost of living, schools, weather, job growth, and safety using one consistent methodology.
Live real estate listings
Active for-sale and rental listings refreshed from the Rentcast API, with photos, beds/baths, square footage, and days on market.
Free interactive tools
Cost-of-living calculator, rent vs. buy, mortgage estimator, and moving-cost calculator. All math runs in your browser — your inputs never leave your device.
Our data sources
- US Census Bureau — demographics, household income, housing
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) — employment, wages, job growth
- GreatSchools.org — school ratings
- Rentcast API — live for-sale and rental listings
- Redfin & public MLS data — median home prices, market trends
- FBI Uniform Crime Reporting — safety indicators
We update our datasets quarterly. When third-party data conflicts, we cite the most recent officially released source.
Our scoring rubric
Every city we cover is scored 0–100 on the same six dimensions, with the same weights, so a score in Boise means the same thing as a score in Birmingham. We never hand-adjust a city's score to make it rank higher.
- Affordability (20%) — cost-of-living index, median home price vs. local median household income, property tax burden.
- Jobs & income (20%) — 5-year job growth, median wage, unemployment rate, industry diversity.
- Schools (20%) — weighted GreatSchools score across the metro's primary districts.
- Safety (15%) — FBI UCR violent and property crime rates per 1,000 residents, 3-year trend.
- Lifestyle (15%) — walkability, bikeability, restaurants/parks per capita, cultural amenities.
- Climate (10%) — sunny days, annual rainfall, summer heat index, winter severity, natural-disaster risk.
Who writes Nabelly
Nabelly is built and maintained by a small, independent editorial team. Our writers are journalists and former relocation researchers; our data analysts come from civic-tech and real-estate backgrounds. Every city profile is reviewed by a writer who has visited or lived in the metro within the last three years. Drafts are checked against primary sources before publication and a correction note is posted whenever a number changes.
We're a remote team headquartered in the United States. Every city page lists its author and last review date in the article footer.
How we're funded — and how we stay independent
Nabelly is funded by two revenue streams: contextual advertising via Google AdSense (all ads are clearly labeled “Advertisement”) and optional reader support. We accept no paid placements from cities, chambers of commerce, real-estate brokers, developers, or relocation services. We do not run sponsored city profiles. We do not sell leads. We have no affiliate relationships with any mortgage lender, moving company, or property platform mentioned on the site.
If that ever changes, we'll disclose it prominently on this page and in the affected article — before you read it, not in fine print at the bottom.
Corrections policy
Spot something wrong? Email us and we'll investigate within five business days. If we've made a factual error, we'll correct it, date the correction, and note what changed at the bottom of the article. We do not silently edit published numbers.
Get in touch
Spot something wrong? Have a city you'd like us to cover? We read every email.