Which cities are ideal for splashing around in a backyard swimming pool?
After the hottest summer on record, Pool Gnome ranked 2023’s Best Cities to Own a Swimming Pool.
We compared over 380 of the biggest U.S. cities based on four categories. We considered access to pool installers and maintenance providers, costs, yard size, and even drought risk, among 15 total metrics.
Dive into our ranking below. To learn how we ranked the cities, see our methodology.
If you prefer a warm water experience, check out the best cities for hot tub lovers.
Contents
- Rankings
- Top 5 Close Up
- The Upshot
- Expert Deep Dive
- Behind the Ranking
- Final Thoughts: Sink Your Water Bill
Rankings
See how each city fared in our ranking:
Top 5 Close Up
Check out the slideshow below for highlights on each of our top 5 cities.
Share of Homes With Existing Pools: 37.58% (Rank: 12)
Average Minimum Pool Installation Cost (as % of Income): 33.99% (Rank: 86 – TIE)
Pool Installers per 100,000 Detached Homes: 573.22 (Rank: 1)
Pool Maintenance and Repair Services per 100,000 Detached Homes: 973.87 (Rank: 1)
Historical Average Number of Extremely Hot Days: 100 (Rank: 61 – TIE)
Photo Credit: Paddy1111 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Share of Homes With Existing Pools: 68.27% (Rank: 1)
Average Minimum Pool Installation Cost (as % of Income): 33.99% (Rank: 86 – TIE)
Pool Installers per 100,000 Detached Homes: 243.85 (Rank: 9)
Pool Maintenance and Repair Services per 100,000 Detached Homes: 542.90 (Rank: 4)
Average Per-Visit Pool Cleaning Cost (as % of Income): 1.26% (Rank: 33)
Photo Credit: Tbrjasmine / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
Average Yard Square Footage: 16,820 (Rank: 31)
Share of Homes With Existing Pools: 24.82% (Rank: 35)
Average Minimum Pool Installation Cost (as % of Income): 31.89% (Rank: 3 – TIE)
Average Maximum Pool Installation Cost (as % of Income): 195.76% (Rank: 7 – TIE)
Pool Maintenance and Repair Services per 100,000 Detached Homes: 767.34 (Rank: 2)
Photo Credit: Allan Ferguson / Flickr / CC BY 2.0 DEED
Average Yard Square Footage: 19,991.43 (Rank: 11)
Pool Installers per 100,000 Detached Homes: 326.86 (Rank: 2)
Pool Maintenance and Repair Services per 100,000 Detached Homes: 487.78 (Rank: 5)
Average Per-Visit Pool Cleaning Cost (as % of Income): 1.59% (Rank: 88)
Historical Average Number of Extremely Hot Days: 105 (Rank: 36 – TIE)
Photo Credit: Renelibrary / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
Average Yard Square Footage: 12,610 (Rank: 80)
Share of Homes With Existing Pools: 62.25% (Rank: 3)
Pool Installers per 100,000 Detached Homes: 114.71 (Rank: 44)
Pool Maintenance and Repair Services per 100,000 Detached Homes: 266.73 (Rank: 29)
Average Per-Visit Pool Cleaning Cost (as % of Income): 1.10% (Rank: 16)
Photo Credit: DenisTangneyJr / Canva Pro / Canva License
The Upshot
Balmy cities cannonballed to the top of our ranking with ideal swimming weather and high access to pool pros.
- 80 California, 40 Texas, and all 26 Florida cities that met our population requirement floated to the top half of our ranking. Those 3 states also dominated the top 30, with 2 exceptions: Scottsdale, Arizona (No. 5), and Sandy Springs, Georgia (No. 23).
- Sunshine State cities Fort Myers (No. 1) and Boca Raton (No. 2) especially impress with top access to pool installers and maintenance and repair services.
- Unfortunately, a few top-ranking cities also endure depleted water levels and high drought risk, which may lead to heftier water bills for pool owners.
Cities in the Northeast and Midwest dived to the worse end of our ranking due to a shorter swimming season, with less sunshine and chillier weather.
- It’s no surprise that Philadelphia (No. 382) and Detroit (No. 383) plunged to the bottom alongside Flint, Michigan, in last place. Not only are pools less affordable in these cities, but they also lack spacious yards and access to pool professionals.
- Despite having spacious yards and pool-friendly climates, Jackson, Mississippi (No. 379), and Little Rock, Arkansas (No. 325), disappoint with costly pool installations and scarce access to pool pros.
Expert Deep Dive
Before getting your feet wet in an upcoming pool project, it’s important to know what pitfalls to expect and how the addition of a giant water feature in your backyard might affect the value of your home.
We reached out to a pool of experts for insights and tips to help you avoid costly mistakes. Read their thoughts below.
- What are your three best tips for new pool owners?
- What is one unexpected challenge homeowners might face while building or planning a pool?
- What is the most important way to avoid a pool leak?
- Does a swimming pool add value to a home? Why or why not, and if so, how much?
- What are the top three factors that can affect the pool’s chemical balance?
- What’s one potential pitfall homeowners should avoid while building or maintaining a pool?
- Who should and shouldn’t own a swimming pool?
What are your three best tips for new pool owners?
1. It is critical to clean your pool regularly.
2. It is important to test your pool water on a regular basis — don’t forget to measure nitrates.
3. It is easy to forget that pool ownership is a two-way street: Not only does the owner choose the pool, but the pool must also choose the owner. Both sides of this relationship must be cultivated.
What is one unexpected challenge homeowners might face while building or planning a pool?
A frequent cause of unexpected challenges is not investing in high-quality pool surfacing materials. You can save money in the short term, but it will cost more in the long run.
A less frequent cause of unexpected challenges is malicious water spirits getting into your pool. I have to emphasize that this is rare, but if you find yourself with a malicious water spirit infestation, let’s just say you’ll wish you’d spent more on high-quality pool surfacing materials.
What is the most important way to avoid a pool leak?
I might sound like a broken record at this point, but high-quality pool surfacing materials are seriously underrated, especially when it comes to avoiding pool leaks.
Does a swimming pool add value to a home? Why or why not, and if so, how much?
This is a tricky question, and the answer is ultimately “it depends.” In general, a well-maintained swimming pool improves home value: They are pleasing to the eye, provide hours of family-friendly entertainment, and even have a mild deterrent effect against animals with late-stage rabies.
But your mileage may vary. I’ve heard from pool owners who have been struggling for years with malicious water spirits that have taken over their pools. A lot of them say the water spirits are a nightmare when prospective buyers tour the home. To be clear, most prospective buyers eventually make a full recovery.
What are the top three factors that can affect the pool’s chemical balance?
The two most important factors that control pool pH are the hydrogen ion concentration and the hydroxide ion concentration. It’s a common misconception that pH is also affected by water spirits. Malicious or not, all water spirits are neutral pH.
What’s one potential pitfall homeowners should avoid while building or maintaining a pool?
Paperwork is important. It’s critical to take care of all relevant permits before beginning pool construction. This is especially true in states like California, where you should expect to deal with a lengthy permitting process at the level of the municipality, the state, and the local Council of Water Spirits.
Who should and shouldn’t own a swimming pool?
If you have a house that you want to make a home, get a swimming pool, and then you will have a swimming pool. But if you are in arrears with payments to your local Council of Water Spirits, think twice about getting a pool. Landscaping might be a better way to boost your home value.
What are your three best tips for new pool owners?
The property tax, water bill, electric bill, and insurance bill are going to increase in addition to the cost and maintenance of the pool.
What is one unexpected challenge homeowners might face while building or planning a pool?
The easement rights already existing in the backyard may drastically reduce the available area.
What is the most crucial way to avoid a pool leak?
Keep the sprinkler system on year-round to keep consistent moisture in the ground around the pool.
Does a swimming pool add value to a home? Why or why not, and if so, how much?
It depends on the neighborhood: If the home is the only house without a pool, adding a pool will avoid the additional discount while selling. If the residents don’t care for a swimming pool, the property taxes would be low without the pool.
What are the top three factors that can affect the pool’s chemical balance?
1. The usage of the pool, if it is used every day or seldom
2. The number and the average age of children
3. Average sunlight on the pool
What’s one potential pitfall homeowners should avoid while building or maintaining a pool?
The size and depth of the pool as the volume of water depends on these parameters.
Who should and shouldn’t own a swimming pool?
If the mandatory HOA (homeowners association) provides a swimming pool and the home is close to the HOA swimming pool, one can avoid owning a swimming pool.
Behind the Ranking
First, we determined the factors (metrics) that are most relevant to rank the Best Cities to Own a Swimming Pool. We then assigned a weight to each factor based on its importance and grouped those factors into four categories: Pool Readiness, Installation, Maintenance, and Climate. The categories, factors, and their weights are listed in the table below.
For each of the 500 biggest U.S. cities, we then gathered data on each factor from the sources listed below the table. We eliminated 116 cities lacking sufficient data in a single category, resulting in a final sample size of 384 cities.
Finally, we calculated scores (out of 100 points) for each city to determine its rank in each factor, each category, and overall. A city’s Overall Score is the average of its scores across all factors and categories. The highest Overall Score ranked “Best” (No. 1) and the lowest “Worst” (No. 384). Note: The “Worst” among individual factors may not be No. 384 due to ties.
Sources: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Housing Finance Agency, HomeBlue, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, PoolCost.com, Realtor.com, U.S. Census Bureau, World Resources Institute, and Yellow Pages
Final Thoughts: Sink Your Water Bill
This past summer was the hottest on record, increasing the need for a cooling dip in the pool while worsening regional water stress levels.
Water bills have doubled over the past decade, only to be further exacerbated by drought-affected regions across the nation — from the Mississippi River to the Colorado River.
Reduce your water and electricity bills as well as your pool’s impact on the planet with the following tips:
- Keep your pool covered when not in use to prevent evaporation.
- Invest in a solar pump.
- Keep an eye out for leaks, and hire a pro to repair them ASAP.
- Clean your pool, including the filter.
- Install a windbreak around the pool.
- Don’t leave your pool pump running for long periods of time.
- If you want to splash in warm water, opt for solar pool covers or a solar pool heater.
What is Pool Gnome? For pool cleaning, installation, and repair, Pool Gnome connects you to the best pool professionals in your area.
Pool Gnome is part of the Home Gnome family of home services sites.
Media Resources
Main Photo Credit: dtephoto / Canva Pro / Canva License
