Where Phoenix ranks among the best cities in the U.S.

Phoenix is on the rebound, at least according to one ranking.

Last fall, Resonance Consulting released its annual World's Best Cities list, and Phoenix's fortunes had fallen. Once ranked as the 49th-best city on the planet, Phoenix had dropped to 89th. It wasn't even the top-ranked Arizona city on the list — Tucson ranked 77th.

Half a year later, those Arizona cousins have swapped places. Tuesday, Resonance released its ranking of America's best cities, and Phoenix came in at 25th. Tucson, meanwhile, ranked just 46th overall. Judging by where both cities ranked on the world list in November, it's quite a shift.

Thirty-one American cities ranked ahead of Phoenix on the November world list, but Phoenix jumped Charlotte, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Baltimore, Salt Lake City, Detroit and St. Louis in Resonance's ranking of U.S. cities. Meanwhile, Tucson, which sat 29th among American cities in the world ranking, fell behind several locales that didn't even make that list, including Omaha and Albany.

Resonance ranked the cities based on three broad metrics — Livability, Lovability and Prosperity — each of which contained a host of subcategories. Livability metrics include air quality, walkability and housing affordability, while Lovability features categories like shopping, nightlife and restaurants. Notable Prosperity categories are airports, universities, poverty rate and labor force participation. The polling firm Ipsos also conducted a small survey of 2,003 people that was factored into the rankings.

Resonance doesn't break each city down by each subcategory, but it does give some hints as to what helped each city. Phoenix, for instance, ranked 37th in Livability, 21st in Lovability and 27th in Prosperity. Resonance noted that it tied for 14th in airports and 15th in restaurants, highlighting Phoenix's "rapid growth, ambitious architecture and a reverence for the outdoors." The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's investment in the Valley drew special mention, as did the highly anticipated VAI Resort in Glendale.

Tucson ranked 40th in Livability, 30th in Lovability and a meager 68th in Prosperity. Arizona's second-largest city did well in museums and nature and parks (both 13th). As Resonance did in the fall, the firm highlighted Tucson's status as a UNESCO City of Gastronomy. "Fast-growing Tucson is getting its sun-kissed, well-toned arms around its distinct sense of place and economic runway," Resonance wrote.