CityFunIndex

Leaderboard

Best cities for live music

Every city in the CityFunIndex, ranked by its Live Music score. Music venues and how often live shows actually happen.

Cities ranked
134
Top score
93
Average
49

Pillar scores are national percentile ranks on a saturation curve, so the leader of every category lands near the same ceiling — the ranks beneath are still distinct. See how scoring works →

Atlanta ties 1 other city at the top with 93. Santa Clarita anchors the bottom at 0 — a 93-point gap.

Regional read The top 10 spans 9 different states — no single state dominates this board.

All 134 cities, coloured by live music score band. The top-ranked cities draw larger.

  • Quiet
  • Some Fun
  • Fun
  • Very Fun
  • Exceptional

Score spread across all 134 cities

  • Quiet 40
  • Some Fun 23
  • Fun 30
  • Very Fun 21
  • Exceptional 20
  1. T-1st 93 Atlanta, GA Fun Score 89
  2. T-1st 93 Cleveland, OH Fun Score 75
  3. T-3rd 92 Cincinnati, OH Fun Score 89
  4. T-3rd 92 Denver, CO Fun Score 82

Ranked 5–134

  1. T#5 91 Boston, MA Fun Score 99
  2. T#5 91 Asheville, NC Fun Score 87
  3. T#5 91 Seattle, WA Fun Score 100
  4. T#8 90 Portland, OR Fun Score 84
  5. T#8 90 San Francisco, CA Fun Score 98
  6. T#8 90 Boise, ID Fun Score 81
  7. T#11 89 Detroit, MI Fun Score 44
  8. T#11 89 Minneapolis, MN Fun Score 85
  9. T#13 88 Aspen, CO Fun Score 67
  10. T#13 88 Washington, DC Fun Score 93
  11. T#13 88 Telluride, CO Fun Score 74
  12. T#16 87 Des Moines, IA Fun Score 70
  13. T#16 87 Las Vegas, NV Fun Score 36
  14. T#18 86 Nashville, TN Fun Score 63
  15. T#18 86 Portland, ME Fun Score 100
  16. #20 85 Santa Barbara, CA Fun Score 81
  17. T#21 84 New Orleans, LA Fun Score 64
  18. T#21 84 Birmingham, AL Fun Score 58
  19. T#23 83 Orlando, FL Fun Score 69
  20. T#23 83 Napa, CA Fun Score 52
  21. #25 82 Buffalo, NY Fun Score 74
  22. #26 81 Charleston, SC Fun Score 91
  23. T#27 80 Philadelphia, PA Fun Score 45
  24. T#27 80 San Diego, CA Fun Score 76
  25. T#29 79 Bend, OR Fun Score 79
  26. T#29 79 St. Louis, MO Fun Score 69
  27. T#31 77 Kansas City, MO Fun Score 72
  28. T#31 77 Charlotte, NC Fun Score 57
  29. #33 76 Stowe, VT Fun Score 53
  30. #34 75 Phoenix, AZ Fun Score 41
  31. T#35 74 Wilmington, DE Fun Score 49
  32. T#35 74 Dallas, TX Fun Score 38
  33. #37 73 Spokane, WA Fun Score 67
  34. #38 72 Austin, TX Fun Score 73
  35. T#39 71 Reno, NV Fun Score 68
  36. T#39 71 Baltimore, MD Fun Score 73
  37. #41 70 Madison, WI Fun Score 96
  38. #42 69 Oakland, CA Fun Score 66
  39. T#43 68 Santa Ana, CA Fun Score 33
  40. T#43 68 Boulder, CO Fun Score 79
  41. #45 67 Sacramento, CA Fun Score 57
  42. #46 66 Park City, UT Fun Score 85
  43. T#47 65 Richmond, VA Fun Score 90
  44. T#47 65 Chicago, IL Fun Score 59
  45. #49 64 Columbus, OH Fun Score 64
  46. #50 63 Los Angeles, CA Fun Score 40
  47. T#51 62 Milwaukee, WI Fun Score 64
  48. T#51 62 Colorado Springs, CO Fun Score 56
  49. #53 61 Jackson, WY Fun Score 92
  50. #54 60 Tucson, AZ Fun Score 44
  51. T#55 59 Pittsburgh, PA Fun Score 89
  52. T#55 59 Fort Wayne, IN Fun Score 55
  53. #57 58 Indianapolis, IN Fun Score 52
  54. #58 57 Providence, RI Fun Score 63
  55. T#59 56 Charleston, WV Fun Score 52
  56. T#59 56 New York, NY Fun Score 55
  57. #61 55 Honolulu, HI Fun Score 88
  58. #62 54 Anaheim, CA Fun Score 46
  59. #63 53 Greensboro, NC Fun Score 54
  60. T#64 50 Chesapeake, VA Placeholder
  61. T#64 50 Fremont, CA Placeholder
  62. T#64 50 Gatlinburg, TN Placeholder
  63. T#64 50 Hialeah, FL Placeholder
  64. T#64 50 Hilton Head Island, SC Placeholder
  65. T#64 50 Plano, TX Placeholder
  66. T#64 50 Sedona, AZ Placeholder
  67. T#64 50 Winston-Salem, NC Placeholder
  68. #72 47 Raleigh, NC Fun Score 66
  69. #73 46 Baton Rouge, LA Fun Score 30
  70. #74 45 Houston, TX Fun Score 39
  71. T#75 44 Bridgeport, CT Fun Score 41
  72. T#75 44 Tampa, FL Fun Score 67
  73. #77 43 Lincoln, NE Fun Score 70
  74. #78 42 Virginia Beach, VA Fun Score 49
  75. T#79 41 Scottsdale, AZ Fun Score 40
  76. T#79 41 Billings, MT Fun Score 59
  77. #81 40 Irving, TX Fun Score 20
  78. #82 39 Jackson, MS Fun Score 25
  79. T#83 38 Omaha, NE Fun Score 63
  80. T#83 38 Fresno, CA Fun Score 22
  81. #85 37 San Jose, CA Fun Score 64
  82. #86 36 Hartford, CT Fun Score 59
  83. T#87 35 Lexington, KY Fun Score 73
  84. T#87 35 Durham, NC Fun Score 62
  85. #89 34 Louisville, KY Fun Score 48
  86. #90 33 Little Rock, AR Fun Score 42
  87. T#91 32 Long Beach, CA Fun Score 32
  88. T#91 32 Burlington, VT Fun Score 81
  89. #93 31 Sioux Falls, SD Fun Score 38
  90. #94 30 Riverside, CA Fun Score 24
  91. T#95 29 Fort Worth, TX Fun Score 20
  92. T#95 29 San Antonio, TX Fun Score 29
  93. #97 28 Albuquerque, NM Fun Score 41
  94. #98 27 Memphis, TN Fun Score 18
  95. T#99 26 Tulsa, OK Fun Score 49
  96. T#99 26 Saint Paul, MN Fun Score 62
  97. #101 25 Oklahoma City, OK Fun Score 28
  98. #102 24 Norfolk, VA Fun Score 50
  99. T#103 23 St. Petersburg, FL Fun Score 43
  100. T#103 23 Glendale, AZ Fun Score 10
  101. #105 22 Miami, FL Fun Score 56
  102. #106 21 El Paso, TX Fun Score 28
  103. T#107 20 Newark, NJ Fun Score 30
  104. T#107 20 Aurora, CO Fun Score 34
  105. #109 19 Fargo, ND Fun Score 49
  106. #110 18 Jacksonville, FL Fun Score 17
  107. T#111 17 Bakersfield, CA Fun Score 0
  108. T#111 17 Henderson, NV Fun Score 14
  109. #113 16 Mesa, AZ Fun Score 35
  110. #114 15 Arlington, TX Fun Score 16
  111. T#115 14 Santa Fe, NM Fun Score 63
  112. T#115 14 Chandler, AZ Fun Score 42
  113. #117 13 Wichita, KS Fun Score 20
  114. #118 12 Savannah, GA Fun Score 71
  115. T#119 11 Bismarck, ND Fun Score 25
  116. T#119 11 Lubbock, TX Fun Score 32
  117. #121 10 Jersey City, NJ Fun Score 37
  118. #122 9 Manchester, NH Fun Score 52
  119. T#123 8 Montgomery, AL Fun Score 39
  120. T#123 8 Irvine, CA Fun Score 62
  121. #125 7 Toledo, OH Fun Score 39
  122. #126 6 Laredo, TX Fun Score 9
  123. T#127 5 North Las Vegas, NV Fun Score 6
  124. T#127 5 Stockton, CA Fun Score 3
  125. #129 4 Corpus Christi, TX Fun Score 16
  126. #130 3 Key West, FL Fun Score 71
  127. T#131 2 Garland, TX Fun Score 0
  128. T#131 2 Gilbert, AZ Fun Score 31
  129. #133 1 Anchorage, AK Fun Score 34
  130. #134 0 Santa Clarita, CA Fun Score 14

8 of 134 cities have no live music measurement, so they sit at the median (50) as a placeholder — flagged above and not a measured rank. The composite Fun Score renormalises around the gap, so it is unaffected.

Live Music is measured from Ticketmaster and SeatGeek show listings, plus OpenStreetMap music venues.