The Limestone County Courthouse, pictured during a May 16, 2025 Fridays after Five street party event hosted by Athens Main Street in downtown Athens, Alabama. Courtesy photo

Athens and its denser urban environs to the east are among the top metropolitan areas in the United States for the millennial generation age demographic to live and work, according to new rankings from an online commercial real estate tracker.

After making the top-five list in online real estate platform CommercialCafe’s annual ratings of the “Best Metros for Millennials to Live and Work” a year ago, the Huntsville-Limestone metro area moved up a notch to the No. 4 spot in newly-released ratings this year.

To arrive at its sorted ranking of the nation’s top metros for millennials, the platform “analyzed 103 U.S. metropolitan areas with populations of more than 500,000,” CommercialCafe explained in this year’s listing, titled “Top U.S. Metros Where Millennials Can Put Down Roots & Thrive in 2025.”

“Our ranking highlights where Millennials are finding the best balance of opportunity and affordability by using data on their population trends, income, cost of living, employment, health coverage and educational attainment,” the platform’s summary article explained.

Both Madison and Limestone Counties make up the Huntsville Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), as defined by the U.S. Census. In identifying the metro area’s appeal to millennials (an American generation conventionally defined as those born between 1981 and 1996), the ratings cited persistently low unemployment, a diversified job market with a well-educated workforce, and relative affordability that helps residents make the most of their earnings.

The Huntsville metro area, CommercialCafe stated, “posted the fastest [m]illennial population growth in the top 20, rising 17.8% between 2019 and 2023. Although the overall share is still smaller than it is in larger metros, the pace of change signals a shift — and a growing appeal to younger workers looking for practical options.”

Ranking ahead of Huntsville metro area in the platform’s 2025 top-five ratings were Austin, Texas at No. 1, followed by San Jose, California and Raleigh, North Carolina. Landing just behind Huntsville at No. 5 was the northwest Arkansas urban corridor along Interstate 49, including the cities of Springdale, Rogers, and Fayetteville.