Chicago Is America’s Best Big City for the 10th Year. What Keeps Bringing People Back?
CHICAGO: Winning a national travel award once can be a good year.
Winning it 10 years in a row is harder to dismiss as a moment.
Chicago has been named the Best Big City in the United States for the 10th consecutive year in Condé Nast Traveler’s 2026 Readers’ Choice Awards. Chicago first took the top spot in 2017 and is now the first and only city to hold the title for a full decade consecutively, according to Choose Chicago. Nearly 800,000 votes were cast in this year’s awards.
But the more interesting question is not whether Chicago deserved another trophy.
It is why people keep choosing the city year after year.
Chicago’s Advantage Is That There Is More Than One Chicago
Architecture, museums and deep-dish pizza are easy answers. They are also only part of the story.
One reason Chicago works so well for visitors is the same reason people can spend years living here without feeling like they have exhausted it: the city changes dramatically from neighborhood to neighborhood.
A weekend in River North feels different from one in Pilsen. Hyde Park offers a different version of the city than Wrigleyville. West Loop, Chinatown, Andersonville, Bronzeville, South Loop and the lakefront all offer their own combinations of food, architecture, entertainment and everyday neighborhood life.
Condé Nast Traveler specifically points to Chicago’s architecture, museums, restaurants and brewing scene, while its broader 2026 livability coverage also highlights the riverfront, beaches, cultural institutions and variety across Chicago’s neighborhoods.
That variety matters because it creates a city people can revisit without simply repeating the same trip.
And for residents, it means living in Chicago does not necessarily mean choosing between “city life” and neighborhood life. Much of Chicago offers both.
The Award Is Backed by a Very Real Tourism Economy
The 10-year streak is more than a marketing headline.
Chicago welcomed 56.8 million visitors in 2025, generating a record $21.5 billion in visitor spending. Tourism supported approximately 135,360 jobs, while the city added more than 2,100 tourism-related jobs during the year. Chicago also set records for leisure hotel demand, hotel revenue, average daily room rates and hotel tax collections.
That kind of visitor activity reaches far beyond Downtown hotels.
It supports restaurants, music venues, museums, sports, neighborhood festivals, retail and businesses throughout the city. It also helps explain why Chicago continues investing in the kinds of attractions and public spaces that residents use too.
That overlap is important.
The Riverwalk is a tourist destination, but Chicagoans use it. The lakefront attracts visitors, but it is also where residents run, bike and spend summer weekends. Neighborhood restaurants can become national destinations while still functioning as someone's Tuesday-night dinner spot.
Some of Chicago’s biggest tourist assets are also simply parts of everyday life here.
Chicago Is Celebrating Its “Perfect 10” This Saturday
The city is turning the milestone into an actual celebration.
Saturday, October 10 has officially been proclaimed Best Big City Day. Choose Chicago plans a “Perfect 10” boat performance by Chicago house music pioneer DJ Lori Branch near City Winery on the Riverwalk from approximately 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Local businesses are joining in as well. Goose Island Beer Company is producing a limited “Perfect 10” beer at its local brewpubs, while Eli’s Cheesecake is introducing a special cheesecake flight available through the winter holiday season.
The celebration will also reach the United Center, where the Chicago Blackhawks’ October 10 home game against the Carolina Hurricanes will include a Best Big City activation.
That makes this weekend an unusually fitting time to explore the city like a visitor, even if you have lived here for years.
The Bigger Story May Be What Chicago Is Adding Next
Perhaps the best explanation for Chicago's decade-long streak is that the city has not stayed exactly the same during those 10 years.
Several major additions arrived in 2026, including the Obama Presidential Center in Hyde Park, the new Hand & The Eye magic venue, the reopened Stony Island Arts Bank and new attractions Downtown.
And the pipeline continues.
In 2027, the Shedd Aquarium is expected to debut a new walk-through Caribbean tunnel, Wrigley Field will host the MLB All-Star Game for the first time since 1990, and additional attractions and major renovations are planned across the city. Longer-term projects include McDonald’s Park at The 78, the massive 1901 Project around the United Center, O’Hare modernization and other redevelopment projects.
That constant change may be one of Chicago’s biggest strengths.
The landmarks remain recognizable, but there is usually something new opening, being restored, under construction or taking shape in another neighborhood.
What a Travel Ranking Says About Living Here
A tourism award should not be confused with a housing-market ranking.
But there is some overlap between what makes a city enjoyable to visit and what makes a neighborhood enjoyable to live in.
Walkability matters. Restaurants matter. Parks and lake access matter. Transit matters. Cultural institutions and entertainment matter. So does having places nearby that make you want to leave your home and actually experience your neighborhood.
Those are also factors buyers and renters weigh when comparing South Loop with West Loop, Lakeview with River North, or Chicago with the suburbs.
For someone relocating to Chicago, the best question therefore may not be “Is Chicago a good city?”
Ten straight years of travelers voting it No. 1 gives you one answer to that.
The much more useful question is:
Which version of Chicago fits the way you actually want to live?
Finding Your Part of America’s Best Big City
Chicago's 77 community areas offer very different combinations of housing, transit, nightlife, lake access, green space, restaurants and everyday convenience.
The Cory Tanzer Group at Option Premier helps buyers, renters and relocating clients compare Chicago neighborhoods based on both real estate and daily lifestyle, from condo buildings and HOA costs to commute patterns, parking and what is actually outside the front door.
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