Sioux Falls has been ranked in the top ten cities its size by a national consulting firm as one of the best places for young professionals to live and work.

Next Generation Consulting (NGC), a firm based in Madison, Wis., studied residential and relocation patterns of 20- to 40-year-olds and interviewed 39,000 young professionals to determine the rankings. Sioux Falls ranked eighth among cities between 100,000 and 200,000 people.

Cities were scored based on seven indexes: earning, learning, vitality, around town, after hours, cost of lifestyle, and social capital.

“Simply being the cheapest place to live, or the city with the most jobs is not a long-term workforce strategy,” says NGC’s founder, Rebecca Ryan. Although jobs are important, Ryan says, “The next generation is very savvy about choosing where they’ll live. They look carefully at quality of life factors like how much time they’re going to spend in traffic commuting, if they can live near a park or hike-and-bike trail, and whether a city’s downtown stays awake after five.”

“This excellent ranking underscores the importance of the investments we have made and continue to make in Sioux Falls,” Mayor Dave Munson said. “We are building the type of city that can and will attract young residents. This will ultimately strengthen our workforce and our entire community.”

For more information about the Next Cities rankings, go to http://nextgenerationconsulting.com/consulting/next-cities/.