Birmingham’s fundamentals around affordability, job accessibility and a desirable location remained strong in 2020, despite the challenges of a pandemic. And the national media took notice, favorably covering our region in some of the most sought-after publications and trendiest lists.
In addition to numerous accolades about our health care prowess amidst a global health crisis and our region’s response to social injustice, here are some highlights from the year:
Birmingham bookended 2020 with the national media praising Birmingham as a great place to visit: Forbes named Birmingham one of its nine affordable winter destinations in January, and in December, Travel + Leisure ranked Birmingham No. 5 on its “50 Best Places to Travel in 2021” list.
In January, Entrepreneur contributor Jeff Barrett wrote about his experience in the Magic City following a visit hosted by the Birmingham Business Alliance in “How Startups Helped Birmingham Bounce Back.”
In March, Niche named Birmingham the No. 12 city with the lowest cost of living in the U.S.
Along with the BBA’s launch of talent attraction programs like OnBoard Birmingham and LaunchED, the media recognized our region’s efforts: Glassdoor ranked Birmingham No. 8 on its “25 Best Cities for Jobs” list in February; The Wall Street Journal named Birmingham the No. 23 hottest job market, also in February; and in April, SmartAsset recognized Birmingham as the No. 10 best city for new college graduates. To top it all off, in September, Money named Alabaster No. 39 on its “Best Places to Live in America” list.
In September, Volusion ranked Birmingham No. 2 on its “Cities with the Most Successful Female Entrepreneurs” list.
As usual, we were lauded for our food and for our beer, this time by CNN and Thrillist, respectively.