5 weeks. 4 rounds.
1 champion.

Compete

Anybody can nominate their town for the Strongest Town Contest. If your town is accepted during the nomination review process, it will become an official contestant in the 2026 Contest.

Rally support and showcase your town’s strength, capitalizing on the benefits of amplifying your town’s story through Strong Towns.

Vote

At the beginning of each round of the Strongest Town Contest, we will open voting on strongesttown.com. It’s up to the public to vote for their favorite contestants.

As a competing town, you can rally your neighbors to submit their votes and give your community a competitive edge!

Win

From the Elite Eight through the Strongest Town Champion, the contest offers several prizes (learn more about the prizes). But the most meaningful reward lasts well beyond the bracket: lasting momentum and pride in the work communities are doing to make their town stronger.
Note: While the contest is open to anyone in the world, we can only cover flights to the Gathering from the continental United States due to the small budget of our organization. If a town outside the continental US wins, the scope and nature of the film may also be subject to negotiation.

Contest Timeline

Pre-Contest

Nominate Your Town

Nominations close: February 15, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. CT

Format:

Nominate your town for the 2026 Strongest Town Contest Presented by Urban3. Past winners are ineligible to enter, but past contestants that did not win are welcome to enter the 2026 contest.

Application Review:

February 16 – March 1

March 2-13

Seeding Showcase

Format:

Eight towns will be eliminated, and the voting results determine the bracket for the next round:

Top vote-getter earns the #1 seed. Second earns #2, and so on.

Result:

Eight towns move on to the Elite Eight.

The number 1 seed faces the number 8 seed. Number 2 faces number 7, and so on.

March 16-20

Elite Eight

Format:

The first round of head-to-head matchups, based on the bracket constructed from the showcase seeding.

Result:

Four towns win their match-ups based on popular votes. These towns advance to Final Four.

March 23-27

Final Four

Format:

Momentum builds. The stories get sharper. The stakes get higher.
Each competing town faces their second head-to-head match up based on the results from the Elite Eight.

Result:

Two town win their match-up based on popular votes. These towns advance to Championship as our Strongest Town Contest finalists.

March 30–April 3

Championship

Format:

Two towns. One final matchup. One Strongest Town.
Each of our Strongest Town Contest finalists rally to get the most votes in their head to head matchup.

Result:

One town wins the championship based on popular votes. This town is crowned the Strongest Town of 2026 and joins an elite class of Strongest Town Champions, all standing as examples for cities and towns of all sizes to continue their hard work building a Strong Town

Prizes

Elite Eight Contestants

  • One free ticket to attend the National Gathering for all communities who are in the Elite 8 (transferable)

Final Four Contestants

  • All benefits of Elite 8
  • ST Swag for nominator

Runner-Up

  • Up to 2 free tickets to attend the National Gathering for all communities (transferable)
  • ST Swag for two people (sent to nominator)

Champion

  • A Trophy
  • A Mini-Documentary about the winning community
  • National Gathering Tickets
    • Up to 3 representatives from a non-LC team
    • Up to 4 representatives from an LC team (in formal Stage process)
  • Travel Assistance for attending National Gathering
    • $1000 stipend
  • Assistance planning a mini-documentary screening & visit from Chuck Marohn (virtual or in person depending on availability) in winning community

What Winning Really Means

Yes, one town is crowned the Strongest Town of the year.

But the real wins happen everywhere else:

  • Local conversations get louder
  • Community pride grows
  • Good projects get more visibility
  • Residents realize they’re not alone in wanting something better

We’ve seen it year after year: towns leave this contest more confident, more connected, and more motivated than when they entered.

‍

Why Participate?

If your town is:

  • experimenting, not finished
  • improving, not perfect
  • learning how to serve people better
  • building toward long-term financial resilience

Then this contest is for you.

Show up. Tell your story. Talk to your neighbors.
Whatever the outcome, your town will be stronger for it.
Learn more about about how to make your town stronger at strongtowns.org and urbanthree.com