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CONTENDER
Boone, NC
Top 100 rank: N/A
Population: 13,000
Compare Boone to Top 10 Best Places
Financial
  City stats Best places avg.
Median family income
(per year)		 $53,213 $90,316
Family purchasing power
(annual, cost-of-living adjusted)		 $54,859 $82,867
Sales tax 7.00% 6.74%
State income tax rate
(highest bracket)		 8.00%I 6.38%
State income tax rate
(lowest bracket)		 6.00%I 2.74%
Auto insurance premiums
(Average for the state)		 $2,199 $2,121
Job growth %
(2000-2006)		 0.81% 13.41%
Housing
  City stats Best places average
Average home price $278,634 $359,352
Average property taxes
(2005)		 $1,038 $3,585
See homes for sale
See million-dollar homes
Education
  City stats Best places average
Colleges, universities and
professional schools (within 30 miles)		 2 29
Junior colleges and
technical institutes (within 30 miles)		 3 18
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)		 5.7% 20.1%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)		 20.0% 24.8%
% students attending public/private
schools (located within town limits)		 100.0/0.0 91.1/8.9
Quality of life
  City stats Best places average
Air quality index*
(% of days AQI ranked as good)		 78.2% 77.3%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 1 1.3
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 33 20.6
Median commute time
(in minutes)		 11.2 23.1
% population with commute
45 mins. or longer		 3.8% 15.6%
% population walk or bike to work 17.8% 2.7%
Leisure and culture
  City stats Best places average
Movie theaters
(within 15 miles)		 3 30
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)		 221 2,899
Bars
(within 15 miles)		 14 287
Public golf courses
(within 30 miles)		 21 125
Libraries
(within 15 miles)		 5 71
Museums (accredited by AAM;
within 30 miles)		 n/a 11
Ski resorts (within 100 miles) 7 17
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts) 1 1
Weather
  City stats Best places average
Annual rainfall
(inches)		 51.53 40.18
% clear days in the area 24 28
High temp in July ° F 76.4° 86.1°
Low temp in Jan ° F 19.6° 24.0°
Health*
  City stats Best places average
Has health plan
(% of residents)		 84.9% 90.5%
Body mass index (avg. for residents) 26 27
Diabetes rates
(% of residents diagnosed)		 12.7% 9.3%
Hypertension rates
(% of residents diagnosed)		 26.9% 30.6%
Elder-care facilities** 9 107
Meet the neighbors
  City stats Best places average
Median age 23.6 36.8
Completed at least some college
(% of residents)		 73.3% 72.4%
Married 17.7% 60.8%
Divorced 4.4% 8.0%
Racial diversity index
(100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)		 19.9 59.2
Amount spent on vacations
(domestic and foreign, household avg. per year)		 $6,574 $8,250
*County data
**Elder-care services refer to skilled nursing and assisted living facilities. Data from Total Living Choices.

(I) Income tax notes:
These states allow personal exemption or standard deductions as provided in the IRC. Utah allows a personal exemption equal to three-fourths the federal exemptions.
The tax brackets reported are for single individuals. For married taxpayers, the same rates apply to income brackets ranging from $51,200 to $336,551. An additional $300 personal exemption is allowed for joint returns or unmarried head of households.
Data: OnBoard, FORTUNE. Details
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Show: Homes for sale | Million-dollar homes | Top companies | Colleges | Hospitals | Museums | Wineries | Gardens | Ski resorts
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Where the singles are
Looking for a romantic locale to meet that special someone? These 25 places have the highest percentage of singles in the country.
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Morganton, NC  
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North Carolina companies
FORTUNE 500
CompanyF500 rank
Bank of America Corp.9
Lowe's45
Wachovia Corp.46
See the rest
FORTUNE: Best to work for
CompanyBest Companies
2008 Rank
SAS Institute29
Kimley-Horn and Associates38
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Sperling's Best Places
Additional data and consulting services provided by Bert Sperling's bestplaces.net.
Homes For Sale
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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
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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
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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
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