I am from Seattle so I am biased, but know it is a wonderful place to live & work. Though the economic depression has slowed job growth everywhere, Seattle's tech companies are (Amazon, Microsoft, etc) still hiring. As far as tax info, there is no income tax in Washington state, but sales tax is high. Here is some specific info for the city: http://www.cityofseattle.net/html/busin ... s.htm#city. Seattle also has very low crime rates when compared with other US cities.

Other popular cities include New York (http://www.easyexpat.com/en/new-york.htm), Chicago (http://www.easyexpat.com/en/chicago.htm), San Francisco (http://www.easyexpat.com/en/san-francisco.htm). Check out the easy expat city guides for info on cities.

 

This survey from Forbes actually just came out as well about US's coolest cities:
http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/02/cooles ... -cool.html

 

I think its important to know what you're looking for in your target destination.

If weather is important (for instance, if you don't like harsh winters), Chicago is out and Charlotte is in. If low taxes are important, Texan cities (Dallas, Houston) and Florida (Orlando/Miami) are good choices. If job opportunities are important, you might want to look at the DC area. And if you're just looking at overall quality of life, I've heard good stuff about Denver.

Here's an interesting website I found: http://www.moving-to-america-guide.com It doesn't really have a city/state ranking but talks about daily life issues in different cities.

 

On the topic of useful guides, I found this which is even more comprehensive: http://creditbridge.com/2016/03/moving-to-america/ It covers a lot of the same daily life issues and also, finances, immigration, etc. Check it out.