29 of the Best Small Cities in America, According to National Geographic

When it comes to cities, bigger isn’t always better. Some of the most appealing destinations in America have more residents than your average town but not enough to make them bustling metropolises. If you’re looking to add more small cities your travel bucket list, National Geographic has some suggestions.

For their list below, Nat Geo Travel partnered with global destination branding advisor Resonance Consultancy to rank the best small cities in the country. They dropped the criteria used by most travel lists and adopted metrics that were a little less conventional. In the list below, you’ll find places that excel in categories like greenest (plenty of parks), sudsiest (lots of breweries), most Instagrammed (popular hashtags), musically grooviest (lots of live music), and most hipster friendly (coffee shops and record stores galore) per capita.

Each city falls into one of three population brackets: 40,000 to 100,000 people, 100,000 to 200,000, and 200,000 to 600,000. Anchorage, Alaska was the most caffeinated for its size, with 5.98 coffee shops for every 10,000 residents. Reno, Nevada is among the meatiest cities, meaning there are plenty of delis, butchers, and steakhouses there for carnivores to enjoy. Hagerstown, Maryland—which has no shortage of barber shops and hair salons—is one of the best groomed cities.

If you’re looking for a destination that checks off multiple boxes, Boulder, Colorado is the place to be: Not only is it the most hipster friendly city in its population group, it’s the most caffeinated, sudsiest, and musically grooviest as well.

Check out the full list below before planning your next vacation.

Albuquerque, New Mexico (Sudsiest)
Anchorage, Alaska (Trending- Most Caffeinated)
Ann Arbor, Michigan (Greenest)
Annapolis, Maryland (Dog Friendly)
Asheville, North Carolina (Most Artsy, Sudsiest)
Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Best Groomed)
Boulder, Colorado (Hipster Friendly, Musically Grooviest, Most Caffeinated, Sudsiest)
Charleston, South Carolina (Most Instagrammed, Most Artsy)
Columbia, South Carolina (Best Groomed, Meatiest)
Greenville, South Carolina (Meatiest)
Hagerstown, Maryland (Best Groomed)
Healdsburg, California (Greenest)
Hickory, North Carolina (Hipster Friendly)
Honolulu, Hawaii (Musically Grooviest, Most Instagrammed, Most Artsy)
Kansas City, Missouri (Most Artsy)
Lakeland, Florida (Most Dog Friendly)
Louisville, Kentucky (Meatiest)
Madison, Wisconsin (Greenest)
New Orleans, Louisiana (Hipster Friendly)
Newport, Rhode Island (Best Groomed)
Olympia, Washington (Most Caffeinated, Greenest)
Omaha, Nebraska (Musically Grooviest)
Pensacola, Florida (Most Dog Friendly)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Sudsiest)
Portland, Maine (Most Instagrammed)
Rapid City, South Dakota (Most Instagrammed)
Reno, Nevada (Meatiest, Most Dog Friendly)
Santa Cruz, California (Musically Grooviest)
Spokane, Washington (Hipster Friendly, Most Caffeinated)

[h/t National Geographic]