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CONTENDER
Natick, MA
Top 100 rank: N/A
Population: 31,900
Compare Natick to Top 10 Best Places
Financial
  City stats Best places avg.
Median family income
(per year)		 $98,343 $90,316
Family purchasing power
(annual, cost-of-living adjusted)		 $84,487 $82,867
Sales tax 5.00% 6.74%
State income tax rate
(highest bracket)		 5.30%I 6.38%
State income tax rate
(lowest bracket)		 5.30%I 2.74%
Auto insurance premiums
(Average for the state)		 n/a $2,121
Job growth %
(2000-2006)		 -0.73% 13.41%
Housing
  City stats Best places average
Average home price $438,748 $359,352
Average property taxes
(2006)		 $5,917 $3,585
See homes for sale
See million-dollar homes
Education
  City stats Best places average
Colleges, universities and
professional schools (within 30 miles)		 64 29
Junior colleges and
technical institutes (within 30 miles)		 22 18
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)		 28.2% 20.1%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)		 42.0% 24.8%
% students attending public/private
schools (located within town limits)		 87.3/12.7 91.1/8.9
Quality of life
  City stats Best places average
Air quality index*
(% of days AQI ranked as good)		 91.8% 77.3%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 23 1.3
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 213 20.6
Median commute time
(in minutes)		 28.0 23.1
% population with commute
45 mins. or longer		 22.7% 15.6%
% population walk or bike to work 2.2% 2.7%
Leisure and culture
  City stats Best places average
Movie theaters
(within 15 miles)		 50 30
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)		 4,881 2,899
Bars
(within 15 miles)		 353 287
Public golf courses
(within 30 miles)		 196 125
Libraries
(within 15 miles)		 161 71
Museums (accredited by AAM;
within 30 miles)		 31 11
Ski resorts (within 100 miles) 29 17
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts) 2 1
Weather
  City stats Best places average
Annual rainfall
(inches)		 46.68 40.18
% clear days in the area 25 28
High temp in July ° F 81.2° 86.1°
Low temp in Jan ° F 17.1° 24.0°
Health*
  City stats Best places average
Has health plan
(% of residents)		 92.3% 90.5%
Body mass index (avg. for residents) 27 27
Diabetes rates
(% of residents diagnosed)		 8.1% 9.3%
Hypertension rates
(% of residents diagnosed)		 28.9% 30.6%
Elder-care facilities** 202 107
Meet the neighbors
  City stats Best places average
Median age 39.4 36.8
Completed at least some college
(% of residents)		 76.4% 72.4%
Married 57.9% 60.8%
Divorced 7.6% 8.0%
Racial diversity index
(100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)		 35.2 59.2
Amount spent on vacations
(domestic and foreign, household avg. per year)		 $7,777 $8,250
*County data
**Elder-care services refer to skilled nursing and assisted living facilities. Data from Total Living Choices.
(3) Crime incidences are estimates based on FBI 2005 Universal Crime and incidence reports, OnBoard Analysis.

(I) Income tax notes:
17 states have statutory provision for automatic adjustment of tax brackets, personal exemption or standard deductions to the rate of inflation. Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska and Ohio indexes the personal exemption amounts only.
Data: OnBoard, FORTUNE. Details
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Nearby places
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Massachusetts companies
FORTUNE 500
CompanyF500 rank
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance90
Liberty Mutual Ins. Group95
Raytheon96
See the rest
FORTUNE: Best to work for
CompanyBest Companies
2008 Rank
Boston Consulting Group11
Bingham McCutchen41
Nixon Peabody66
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Sperling's Best Places
Additional data and consulting services provided by Bert Sperling's bestplaces.net.
Homes For Sale
Homes for sale provided by Trulia Real Estate Search.
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important
Affordable housing
Plentiful leisure activities
Plentiful cultural options
Job growth
Sunny weather
Short commute time
Good health care access
Find best places by
City:
State:
Top-earning towns
  Median household income
Hillsborough $263,456
Scarsdale $219,317
Los Altos Hills $199,370
See the rest
Hottest
  Avg. high temp
in July (°F)
Rancho Mirage, CA 108.2°F
Avondale, AZ 107.6°F
Glendale, AZ 107.6°F
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Priciest homes
  Median price
Montecito $3,157,233
Hillsborough $2,606,764
Paradise Valley $2,075,930
See the rest
Most singles
  % single residents
State College 76.5%
Durham 74.5%
Amherst Center 73.7%
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Youngest
  Median age
Storrs 20.65
Durham 21.19
Oxford 21.56
See the rest
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