Money Magazine: Best places to retire 2006: Ames, IA snapshot

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Winners

Ames, IA Population: 51,572 Population, age 50+: 10,582 Population growth, age 50+: 23.36%
Taxes
	City stats
State income tax rate (highest bracket)	8.98%^*
State income tax rate (lowest bracket)	0.36%^*
Retirement tax break from state?	No
State property taxes	Above average
Sales tax	7.00%
State gas tax (cents per gallon)	20.7
Housing
	City stats
Median home price	$157,500
Home price gain (2004-2005)	8.10%
Financial
	City stats
Median household income (per year)	$40,354
Auto insurance premiums (Average for the state)	$1,622
Quality of life
	City stats
Air quality index (% of days AQI ranked as good)	98.1%
Personal crime risk (100 is nat'l average; lower is better)	40
Property crime risk (100 is nat'l average; lower is better)	83
Personal crime incidents (per 100,000)	241
Property crime incidents (per 100,000)	2,959
Leisure and culture
	City stats
Movie theaters (within 15 miles)	6
Restaurants (within 15 miles)	260
Bars (within 15 miles)	26
Public golf courses (within 30 miles)	24
Libraries (within 15 miles)	14
Museums (accredited by AAM within 30 miles)	1
Colleges, universities and professional schools	1
Ski resorts (within 100 miles)	4
Weather
	City stats
Annual precipitation (inches)	34.07
Clear days	76
High temp in July ° F	84.3°
Low temp in Jan ° F	9.6°
Health***
	City stats
Hospitals (within 30 miles)	13
Doctors' offices	32
Body mass index (avg. for residents)	26
Cancer mortality (per 100,000, age-adjusted)	180.5
Cardiac mortality (per 100,000)	180.8
Meet the neighbors
	City stats
Median age	27.0
Completed at least some college (% of residents)	83.2%
Married	35.6%
Divorced	4.7%

*Income tax notes:
15 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.
tax credits.
***County data

Data: OnBoard, FORTUNE. Details

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Additional data and consulting services provided by Bert Sperling's bestplaces.net.

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