Provo Named Most Neighborly City in America, 2026 Ranking

Provo has a reputation for friendliness, and now a national ranking says it’s the most neighborly city in America. Neighbor.com’s 2026 Most Neighborly Cities list put Provo first among 100 U.S. cities, ahead of San Francisco and Boise, Idaho. The surprising part is what drove the result. Safety carried the most weight in the survey, but Provo’s standout was charitable giving. Utah County taxpayers gave 4.5 percent of their income, the highest rate on the list.

Rankings like this are easy to dismiss as marketing, and some skepticism is healthy. Neighbor.com is a storage and parking marketplace, so it has its own interest in the story. This post covers who runs the ranking, how the survey and scoring worked, what Provo’s numbers show, and what it means if you’re buying or selling in Utah County. We’ll also show where the data has limits, so you can decide what the ranking tells you and what it doesn’t.

WHY PROVO IS RANKED THE MOST NEIGHBORLY CITY IN AMERICA

Provo finished in the top 10 in five of the seven categories Neighbor.com measured. Consistency like that separates a city that scores well in one area from one that performs across the board. The ranking combines what Americans said matters in a neighborly city with how each city performed on public data.

The Giving Story

Utah County taxpayers claimed charitable gifts worth 4.5 percent of their income in 2023, according to IRS data cited by Neighbor.com. That was the highest rate on the list and more than three times the average for the 100 cities. Giving at that level usually reflects habits that show up across a community, from churches and schools to local nonprofits.

The Safety and Sharing Story

Provo had the fourth lowest violent crime rate among the cities ranked. It also placed second for local sharing, a measure that counts residents who listed or rented space on Neighbor.com over the past year. Together, those results describe a city where people feel secure enough to sharereds what they have.

HOW THE NEIGHBORLY CITIES RANKING WORKS

Who Runs the Ranking

Neighbor.com is a marketplace based in Lehi, Utah, where people rent out spare garages, driveways, and parking spaces. It publishes the ranking each year around National Good Neighbor Day. The 2026 edition came out on September 29.

What the Survey Asked

In September 2026, Neighbor.com surveyed 1,011 U.S. adults. Respondents rated seven items from 1, most important, to 7, least important, for what makes a city neighborly. The items included community safety, helping neighbors directly, community stability, volunteering, voter participation, charitable giving, and sharing things with neighbors. Community safety came out as most important, with an average rating of 1.89. Neighbor.com hasn’t published the exact question wording.

HOW NEIGHBOR.COM SCORED 100 CITIES

Neighbor.com used the survey results to set the weights. It then scored each city in six steps:

1. Compared each city’s result on each measure against the average of all 100 cities.
2. Flipped the crime measures so that less crime scored higher.
3. Capped any single result at three standard deviations from the average.
4. Measured local sharing on a log scale.
5. Multiplied each measure by its survey weight.
6. Added the seven weighted scores together.

The Seven Measures and Their Sources

• Violent and property crime: FBI Crime Data Explorer, mostly 2025 data
• Charitable giving: Share of income claimed as charitable gifts on tax returns, from IRS data for 2023
• Volunteering: Adults who volunteered or helped others informally, by metro area or state, from AmeriCorps and Census data for 2023
• Voter turnout: Turnout in each city’s most recent contested mayoral race, from 2019 to 2026
• Population growth: One-year change, from Census data for 2024 to 2025
• Local sharing: Residents who listed or rented space on Neighbor.com per 100,000 people over the past 12 months

Where the Data Gets Messy

Neighbor.com is open about its limits. Volunteering uses metro or state rates, so cities in the same state can tie, which is why Provo tied for third in that category. Some cities lacked recent voter data and were assigned the average turnout. Population growth is a proxy for community stability, which is an imperfect match.

WHAT PROVO’S NUMBERS SHOW

How Provo Climbed the List

Provo ranked 23rd in 2021, third in 2022, sixth in 2023, and fifth among small cities in 2024 before taking the top spot in 2026. Neighbor.com says some of those changes reflect new data sources and new weights, so the story is best read as a snapshot rather than a steady climb.

HOW OTHER UTAH CITIES PERFORMED IN THE TOP 10

Provo isn’t the only Utah city on the 2026 list. Ogden ranked sixth nationally, and Salt Lake City ranked 10th. Ogden sits in Weber County, north of Salt Lake City, and Salt Lake City is the state capital and the largest city in Utah.

Two Utah cities in the top 10 beyond Provo suggest that neighborly habits reach beyond a single community. Each city was scored against the same 100-city average, though, so the results aren’t interchangeable. For Utah County readers, Provo is the closest signal. Ogden and Salt Lake City are worth a look if you’re comparing communities across the Wasatch Front.

WHAT LOCAL VOICES SAY ABOUT LIVING IN PROVO

Numbers only tell part of the story. A Provo delivery driver who covers much of the city told the Deseret News that Provo is probably the most friendly place he could be. A resident said she often sees people acting charitably around town. Provo’s police chief has described the department’s mission as working with citizens to improve quality of life and solve problems together.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BUYERS AND SELLERS IN UTAH COUNTY

A ranking can point you toward neighborhoods worth a closer look, but it can’t tell you whether a home fits your life. Your commute, budget, and timeline matter more. In the second quarter of 2026, the Salt Lake Board of Realtors reported a median single family price of $600,000 in Utah County, down 0.83 percent from a year earlier. Condo sales fell 22.53 percent over the same period.

If You’re Buying

• Visit neighborhoods on a weekday and on a Saturday to see how they feel at different times.
• Talk with people on the block about what they like and what they’d change.
• Compare single family homes and condos separately, since the two are moving differently right now.
• Ask your agent to pull current sales for the streets you’re considering.

If You’re Selling

• Buyers who value a community’s character may compare your home on neighborhood feel as well as price.
• Price your home on recent sales, not on last year’s numbers.
• Think about how your home’s story connects to the neighborhood, since that can help it stand out in listings.

That’s where a local team makes a difference. Our agents work out of Orem and spend their days across Utah County, so we see how a new project, a builder, or a shift in the market can change what a home is worth on a particular street. We’ve helped sell more than 3,000 homes, and we’re happy to walk you through what’s happening in the neighborhoods you’re considering. If you’re weighing new construction, our partner builders include Valor Homes, Green Tech Construction, and Amundsen Construction.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Is Provo officially the most neighborly city in America?

Provo is first in Neighbor.com’s 2026 Most Neighborly Cities ranking of 100 U.S. cities. The ranking is published by a private company using its own methodology and public data. It’s a useful signal, but it isn’t an official government designation.

How was the most neighborly cities ranking calculated?

Neighbor.com surveyed 1,011 U.S. adults to determine how much each factor should count. It then compared 100 cities against the average on seven measures, including violent crime, charitable giving, and local sharing. The weighted results were added together to produce each city’s score.

What makes a city neighborly in the eyes of Americans?

In the survey, community safety ranked as the most important factor, with helping neighbors directly coming second. Respondents also rated charitable giving, volunteering, voter participation, community stability, and sharing things with neighbors. Neighbor.com hasn’t published the exact question wording.

Which Utah cities made the 2026 most neighborly cities top 10?

Provo ranked first, Ogden ranked sixth, and Salt Lake City ranked 10th in Neighbor.com’s 2026 ranking. Each city was measured against the same average across 100 U.S. cities. The ranking doesn’t rank Utah cities against each other separately.

How much are homes selling for in Utah County?

The Salt Lake Board of Realtors reported a median single family price of $600,000 in Utah County for the second quarter of 2026. A median means half of homes sold for more and half for less. Condo prices are reported separately, with a median of $399,990 in the same quarter. Check current listings before you set a budget, since prices change quickly.

Who’s a good local realtor for Provo and Utah County?

Look for an agent who knows neighborhoods street by street and can explain current sales in plain terms. Red Sign’s 20 agents work out of Orem and serve buyers and sellers across Provo and the surrounding communities. If you want to talk through neighborhoods, timing, or pricing, contact Red Sign Team anytime!

Sources:

Neighbor.com, “Methodology: 2026 Most Neighborly Cities in America”: https://www.neighbor.com/storage-blog/most-neighborly-cities-2026/

Neighbor.com press release, Sept. 29, 2026: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/neighborcom-crowns-provo-utah-americas-most-neighborly-city-of-2026-302892456.html

Deseret News, Oct. 8, 2026: https://www.deseret.com/utah/2026/10/08/see-why-provo-was-deemed-americas-most-neighborly-city/

Utah News Dispatch, “Home prices break record in Salt Lake but dip slightly in other counties,” July 21, 2026: https://www.standard.net/news/local/2026/jul/21/home-prices-break-record-in-salt-lake-but-dip-slightly-in-other-counties/