Money's list of America's best small towns


Top 100
Rank City Population
76 Germantown, WI 19,400
77 Trumbull, CT 35,900
78 Waunakee, WI 11,100
79 Lake Oswego, OR 36,700
80 Bettendorf, IA 32,400
81 West Fargo, ND 23,100
82 Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 49,600
83 Calera, AL 9,400
84 Mechanicsville, VA 37,500
85 Alabaster, AL 28,700
86 Bryant, AR 14,700
87 Clayton, CA 11,200
88 Emmaus, PA 11,300
89 Cave Spring, VA 25,300
90 Helena, AL 14,200
91 Glen Carbon, IL 12,500
92 Silverdale, WA 16,600
93 Tecumseh, MI 8,700
94 Glen Allen, VA 14,400
95 Concord, NH 42,400
96 Lake Mary, FL 15,100
97 Owatonna, MN 24,700
98 Norfolk, NE 23,100
99 Columbus, NE 21,400
100 Oviedo, FL 30,800
From the August 2009 issue
CNNMoney's Best Places database of 1,800-plus U.S. cities includes towns with populations 8,500 to 50,000 with satisfactory education and crime scores, where income is below 200% of the state median, and that are no more than 95% white – as well as cities with populations 90,000 and up.
Best Places Winners
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Help your town win!
Money picked the top 100. Now it’s your turn: Which town will be our fan favorite? Become a fan of your town and it might just make it to No. 1. Results updated monthly.
Town Become a fan # of fans
1. Louisville, CO Become a fan on facebook Add me! 4,256
2. Chanhassen, MN Become a fan on facebook Add me! 2,410
3. Papillion, NE Become a fan on facebook Add me! 1,581
4. Middleton, WI Become a fan on facebook Add me! 1,481
5. Milton, MA Become a fan on facebook Add me! 1,425
See the rest
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How we picked the Best Places
Using statistics from data provider Onboard Informatics, we crunched the numbers in order to zero in on America's best small towns for families. (Last year, we looked at small cities, with populations between 50,000 and 300,000.) More

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