Denver plunged to No. 55 in U.S. News & World Report’s annual list of Best Places to Live, the publication announced Monday.

Last year, the Mile High City was ranked No. 14.

The rankings for 2022-23 were based on an analysis of 150 metro areas using data from sources such as the Census Bureau, the U.S. Department of Labor and the FBI. U.S. News measured the strength of each area’s job market, housing affordability, net migration (whether people have moved into a particular city) and quality of life.

Quality of life, in turn, examined factors such as an area’s crime rate, quality of education, health care quality and availability, commuting times and air quality.

“The message is out that Denver has big city crime and traffic problems,” said Steven Byers, senior economist with the Denver-based Common Sense Institute. “People see the way Governor Polis and Mayor Hancock handled the homeless people and they want to get away from that.”

Byers said Denver is 160,000 homes short of what it needs to avoid overcrowding. The metro area is often too expensive for young people who have monthly car payments, rent and student loans.

“They can’t make it,” Byers said. “It’s a real struggle, especially those in service industry jobs. You’ve got to get personal capital.”

Jadyn Brieske, 20, moved from the Parker area to Kearney, Nebraska, this past weekend to escape Denver’s high cost of living.

In Nebraska, she found a one-bedroom, one-bath apartment for $600. In suburban Denver, she was paying more than $1,000 a month for the same amount of room.

“It was nerve-wracking for sure. I’ve only ever lived in Colorado,” said Brieske, who earns $16 an hour working at Walmart. “I was worried about moving to Nebraska because I thought that there would be nothing to do and I only know one person here. But it’s a lot more hip than I thought it would be.”

Brieske, who graduated from Smoky Hill High School in Aurora, said the only way to make ends meet for many of her friends who live in Colorado is to squeeze into a place with three or four other people.

Inflation has hit the Denver metro area hard in the last year, with energy prices up 31.7% from April 2021 to April 2022, according to the Consumer Price Index. Food prices in Colorado jumped 9.4% over the past year.

Nationwide, food prices increased 8.3% from April 2021 to April 2022 and energy costs were up 33% over the last year.

Across the U.S., gas prices fell 6% in April after increasing 18% in March. Gas prices also fell by 6% along the Front Range in April. Monday’s national average price per gallon was $4.48. In Colorado, the average was $4.11 per gallon.

Elsewhere in U.S. News’ Best Places to Live rankings, Colorado Springs moved to No. 2 in the nation. Last year, it was ranked No. 6. Fort Collins, meanwhile, fell to No. 54 from No. 17.

Unfortunately for the Springs, that No. 1 ranking went to Huntsville, Ala., which moved up from No. 3 last year.

Huntsville is Colorado Springs’ chief rival to become the permanent home of U.S. Space Command, the coveted military installation that will bring thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in spending to its home city.

In the U.S. News analysis, Huntsville scored higher than Colorado Springs when it came to housing affordability (8.5 on a 10-point scale, compared with the Springs’ 5.7); jobs (7.2 vs. the Springs’ 6.1); quality of life (6.8 vs. the Springs’ 6.4) and net migration (6.9 vs. the Springs’ 6).

“We’ve become pretty accustomed to ranking among the best places to live in the nation — now in our fifth year of ranking in the top six of 150 cities ranked and highest in desirability for four straight years,” Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers said via email. “These consistently high rankings are testament to the resilience and staying power of our city.”