Ii Heya Net "Livability & Desirable Towns" Ranking 2026 <Iwate Prefecture Edition>

Daito Trust Construction Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Kei Takeuchi) conducted its largest-ever resident satisfaction survey and compiled the "Ii Heya Net Livability Ranking 2026 <Iwate Prefecture Edition>" and "Ii Heya Net Desirable Towns Ranking 2026 <Iwate Prefecture Edition>".

"Ii Heya Net Livability Ranking 2026 <Iwate Prefecture Edition>" Key Points

For the 7th consecutive year, Morioka City ranked first in livability. Second was Yahaba Town, Shiwa District, and third was Takizawa City.

○ Morioka City Ranks First for the 7th Consecutive Year

Morioka City, the prefectural capital located in the central part of the prefecture, is a town that combines rich nature, history, and convenience. This year, it again secured first place in 4 out of 8 factors. Commercial facilities such as the shopping mall "MOSS Building" and "Cross Terrace Morioka" are abundant. It is highly rated with the only standard deviation in the 70s, marking its 7th consecutive year at number one.

○ Yahaba Town, Shiwa District, Rises to Second Place from Fourth Last Year

Adjacent to Morioka City, Yahaba Town offers easy access to the JR Tohoku Main Line and National Route 4, and can reach the center of Morioka City in about 15 minutes by train, making it a thriving bedroom community for Morioka City. It also boasts excellent commercial facilities and medical institutions, rising from fourth place last year to second.

* The "Livability Ranking" is compiled by accumulating responses from 5 years, from 2022 to 2026. However, if the cumulative number of respondents for a municipality in the 2022-2026 period does not meet the specified 50 people, responses from 2021 are also accumulated. If the number still does not meet the specification even after adding 2021, responses from 2020 are accumulated, and if still insufficient, responses from 2019 are accumulated. There are no duplicate respondents.

"Ii Heya Net Desirable Towns Ranking 2026 <Iwate Prefecture Edition>" Key Points

For the second consecutive year, Sendai City ranked first in desirable towns, followed by Morioka City in second. Tokyo's 23 Wards ranked third for the fifth consecutive year.

○ Sendai City Ranks First for the Second Consecutive Year

Sendai City has been ranked first for two consecutive years. Morioka City is second for the second consecutive year, and Tokyo's 23 Wards are third for the fifth consecutive year. Yokohama City, Sapporo City, and Naha City ranked tied for fifth place.

○ 75.2% Are Positive About Their Current Town

Of the respondents, 54.4% stated "No particular town I want to live in," and 20.8% stated "I want to continue living in my current town," totaling 75.2%. This indicates a continued positive evaluation of their current towns, similar to last year.

* The "Desirable Towns Ranking" is compiled by ranking responses from Iwate Prefecture residents in 2026, targeting municipalities nationwide.

* Administrative wards are aggregated as a single municipality.

Livability Ranking 2026 <Iwate Prefecture Edition> Top 10 Municipalities & Factor Rankings

"Municipalities" Outside the Top 10 & Factor Ranking Topics

● Second place for Quietness & Safety was Iwate Town, Iwate District, and third was Tono City.

● Second place for Price & Rent was Iwate Town, Iwate District, and third was Hachimantai City.

● Second place for Disaster Prevention was Iwate Town, Iwate District.

* Scores are the average values when "Very Satisfied" is 100 points, "Satisfied" is 75 points, "Neither" is 50 points, "Dissatisfied" is 25 points, and "Very Dissatisfied" is 0 points, regarding the evaluation of the town where respondents currently live.

* Standard deviation is normalized so that the average score is 50, and it indicates how far the score deviates from the average. If standard deviations are the same but rankings differ, the difference is in the second decimal place or beyond.

* For factor rankings, if the standard deviation is less than 50, it is displayed as "-".

* Municipalities whose previous year's ranking was "-" were not included in the ranking compilation because their cumulative number of respondents in the previous year was less than 50.

Survey Overview

◇ Survey Method

Survey questionnaires were distributed and collected via the internet from registered monitors of Macromill, Inc.

◇ Respondents

The survey targeted a total of 7,174 individuals aged 20 and over residing in Iwate Prefecture, from 2022 to 2026 (with responses from 2021-2019 added for a portion of the data).

[Gender Ratio] Male 48.9% : Female 51.1%

[Marital Status] Unmarried 42.2% : Married 57.8% [Children] None 44.4% : Yes 55.6%

[Age Distribution] 20s 14.1%, 30s 20.6%, 40s 25.4%, 50s 22.7%, 60s 13.0%, 70s 4.2%

◇ Survey Period

February 10 (Tue) - March 22 (Sun), 2026: 2026 Survey (Number of respondents: 1,747)

February 21 (Fri) - March 10 (Mon), 2025: 2025 Survey (Number of respondents: 1,413)

February 21 (Wed) - March 14 (Thu), 2024: 2024 Survey (Number of respondents: 1,320)

February 17 (Fri) - March 15 (Wed), 2023: 2023 Survey (Number of respondents: 1,431)

March 8 (Tue) - March 29 (Tue), 2022: 2022 Survey (Number of respondents: 1,173)

March 17 (Wed) - March 30 (Tue), 2021: 2021 Survey (Number of respondents: 15 *Only a portion of responses used)

March 17 (Tue) - April 3 (Fri), 2020: 2020 Survey (Number of respondents: 43 *Only a portion of responses used)

March 26 (Tue) - April 8 (Mon), 2019: 2019 Survey (Number of respondents: 32 *Only a portion of responses used)

Total: 7,174 people

◇ Survey Structure

Survey planning, question design, analysis: Ken So, Fellow, Daito Trust Construction's Rental Future Research Institute; Survey distribution and collection: Macromill, Inc.

◇ Response Method

The Livability Ranking was created based on the average score for "Overall evaluation of the current area (Very Satisfied: 100 points, Satisfied: 75 points, Neither: 50 points, Dissatisfied: 25 points, Very Dissatisfied: 0 points)" for the town where respondents currently reside. The Desirable Towns Ranking was created by aggregating voting numbers from a free-word suggestion method where multiple candidate municipalities are displayed based on the entered municipality name and selected by the respondent.

* Except for printing and storing for personal use, or other acts permitted by copyright law, reproduction, public transmission, distribution, alteration, or reprinting of this release, in whole or in part, on other websites without prior permission from the copyright holder is prohibited.

* Media representatives such as newspapers, magazines, television, and radio are requested to indicate "Ii Heya Net Livability & Desirable Towns Ranking 2026 <Iwate Prefecture Edition>" and the source when publishing, reporting, or quoting this release.

* For academic research purposes, individual-level data from this survey may be available. Please contact us for details.

* The "Livability Ranking" website features academic papers and explanatory articles on survey data related to livability and town development. For details, please visit the website.

▼ Details here https://www.eheya.net/sumicoco/ ▼ Press release here

https://www.kentaku.co.jp/news/survey/2026/sumicoco_tohoku2026.html