(MONEY Magazine) – By reviewing the scores from 1 to 100 in nine aspects of what a region has to offer, you can see precisely how our leading metro areas compare. A star signifies the highest score in each category among our top 10. Seattle won by posting four scores of 73 or higher, excelling in leisure and arts to overcome a dismal 16 in crime. By contrast, Boston fared quite well in health, education and arts but got low marks in five other categories. Proximity to big-city cultural opportunities and hospitals helped Boston's exurban North Shore, Central New Jersey, Danbury and Nashua.

1 Seattle (11) 2 Danbury, Conn. (1) 3 San Francisco (5) 4 Denver (76) 5 Nashua, N.H. (6) 6 Boston (9) 7 Boston's North Shore (12) 8 Central New Jersey (2) 9 Minneapolis/St. Paul (33) 10 Pittsburgh (20) 11 Riverside/San Bernardino (17) 12 New Orleans (36) 13 Los Angeles/Long Beach (7) 14 Honolulu (43) 15 Washington, D.C. (40) 16 Long Island, N.Y. (4) 17 Dallas (30) 18 Norwalk, Conn. (3) 19 Rochester, Minn. (28) 20 Salt Lake City (82) 21 Philadelphia (27) 22 Beaver County, Pa. (25) 23 Orange County, Calif. (8) 24 Wilmington, Del. (55) 25 Houston (23) 26 Kenosha, Wis. (29) 27 Raleigh/Durham, N.C. (58) 28 Bergen/Passaic, N.J. (10) 29 San Jose (26) 30 Las Vegas (180) 31 Atlanta (59) 32 Monmouth/Ocean, N.J. (13) 33 St. Louis (34) 34 Oxnard/Ventura, Calif. (21) 35 Northwest Indiana (41) 36 Stamford, Conn. (14) 37 Oakland (32) 38 Cleveland (22) 39 Boulder (77) 40 Chicago (16) 41 Baltimore (54) 42 Reno (176) 43 Phoenix (81) 44 Anchorage (147) 45 Bridgeport/Milford, Conn. (15) 46 Northwest New Jersey (24) 47 Detroit (71) 48 Aurora/Elgin, Ill. (39) 49 Tacoma, Wash. (88) 50 New York City (19) 51 Duluth, Minn. (42) 52 San Diego (52) 53 Gainesville, Fla. (66) 54 Bangor, Maine (68) 55 Cincinnati (31) 56 Santa Rosa, Calif. (56) 57 Ann Arbor (67) 58 Lawrence, Mass. (113) 59 Vancouver, Wash. (122) 60 Vallejo/Napa, Calif. (62) 61 Provo/Orem, Utah (106) 62 Sacramento (84) 63 Tucson (91) 64 Burlington, Vt. (65) 65 Fort Myers, Fla. (171) 66 Orange County, N.Y. (18) 67 Lowell, Mass. (72) 68 Eugene/Springfield, Ore. (105) 69 Lake County, Ill. (51) 70 Madison, Wis. (53) 71 Milwaukee (61) 72 Joliet, Ill. (50) 73 Buffalo (47) 74 Rochester, N.Y. (107) 75 Miami (111) 76 Wausau, Wis. (140) 77 Orlando (155) 78 Trenton (78) 79 Appleton/Oshkosh, Wis. (64) 80 Bismarck, N.D. (70) 81 Portland, Ore. (101) 82 Akron (37) 83 Lafayette, Ind. (48) 84 Albuquerque (143) 85 Galveston (95) 86 Nashville (134) 87 Binghamton, N.Y. (44) 88 Fort Worth (109) 89 Syracuse (90) 90 Eau Claire, Wis. (57) 91 Johnson City, Tenn. (87) 92 Brockton, Mass. (74) 93 Lorain/Elyria, Ohio (49) 94 Hudson County, N.J. (35) 95 Sioux Falls, S.D. (104) 96 Billings, Mont. (110) 97 Casper, Wyo. (237) 98 Providence (83) 99 Wheeling, W.Va. (45) 100 Memphis (116) 101 Boise, Idaho (188) 102 Spokane (124) 103 St. Cloud, Minn. (46) 104 Fargo, N.D. (38) 105 Indianapolis (86) 106 Fayetteville, Ark. (154) 107 Bellingham, Wash. (99) 108 Columbia, Mo. (118) 109 Southeast New Hampshire (130) 110 Cumberland, Md. (60) 111 Albany/Schenectady, N.Y. (131) 112 Santa Cruz, Calif. (69) 113 Fort Lauderdale (123) 114 Brazoria, Texas (75) 115 Austin (138) 116 Lafayette, La. (148) 117 Lubbock, Texas (229) 118 Harrisburg, Pa. (126) 119 Portland, Maine (135) 120 Fort Walton Beach, Fla. (186) 121 Oklahoma City (119) 122 Norfolk (139) 123 Charleston, S.C. (142) 124 Great Falls, Mont. (184) 125 Tampa (121) 126 Green Bay (160) 127 Fort Collins, Colo. (225) 128 Florence, Ala. (120) 129 San Antonio (89) 130 Danville, Va. (85) 131 Parkersburg, W.Va. (73) 132 Charlottesville, Va. (102) 133 Colorado Springs (232) 134 Utica/Rome, N.Y. (115) 135 Knoxville (97) 136 Omaha (174) 137 Johnstown, Pa. (63) 138 Birmingham (96) 139 Tulsa (170) 140 Santa Barbara (152) 141 Jackson, Miss. (92) 142 Dayton (94) 143 Houma/Thibodaux, La. (128) 144 La Crosse, Wis. (79) 145 Midland, Texas (244) 146 New Haven (145) 147 Olympia, Wash. (117) 148 Richmond (125) 149 Corpus Christi (200) 150 Sarasota (211) 151 Tallahassee (224) 152 Muncie, Ind. (98) 153 Lincoln, Neb. (172) 154 Charleston, W.Va. (80) 155 Cumberland County, N.J. (173) 156 Charlotte, N.C. (221) 157 Lawton, Okla. (215) 158 Manchester, N.H. (100) 159 Greensboro, N.C. (108) 160 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (114) 161 Louisville (112) 162 Amarillo, Texas (165) 163 Tuscaloosa, Ala. (127) 164 Kansas City, Mo. (157) 165 Springfield, Mass. (151) 166 Huntsville, Ala. (175) 167 Dothan, Ala. (243) 168 Shreveport, La. (132) 169 Williamsport, Pa. (149) 170 Lancaster, Pa. (133) 171 Brownsville, Texas (217) 172 Bradenton, Fla. (273) 173 Waterloo, Iowa (236) 174 Yakima, Wash. (203) 175 Fort Smith, Ark. (177) 176 San Angelo, Texas (191) 177 Redding, Calif. (199) 178 Worcester, Mass. (209) 179 Bremerton, Wash. (156) 180 Pawtucket, R.I. (164) 181 Jacksonville (178) 182 Salem, Ore. (220) 183 Altoona, Pa. (144) 184 Alexandria, La. (162) 185 Columbus, Ohio (129) 186 York, Pa. (103) 187 West Palm Beach, Fla. (187) 188 Las Cruces, N.M. (163) 189 Steubenville, Ohio (206) 190 Medford, Ore. (246) 191 Pueblo, Colo. (260) 192 Hartford (93) 193 Montgomery (181) 194 Springfield, Mo. (146) 195 Asheville, N.C. (169) 196 Little Rock (223) 197 Daytona Beach, Fla. (230) 198 Grand Rapids (253) 199 Mobile (207) 200 El Paso (251) 201 Pensacola, Fla. (228) 202 Niagara Falls, N.Y. (183) 203 Clarksville, Tenn. (233) 204 Fort Wayne (137) 205 Richland, Wash. (240) 206 Ocala, Fla. (258) 207 Lake Charles, La. (168) 208 Lynchburg, Va. (205) 209 Racine, Wis. (259) 210 Roanoke (227) 211 Abilene, Texas (182) 212 South Bend, Ind. (198) 213 Hamilton, Ohio (158) 214 Toledo (150) 215 Augusta, Ga. (189) 216 Evansville, Ind. (194) 217 Pascagoula, Miss. (234) 218 Allentown, Pa. (185) 219 Lexington, Ky. (141) 220 Lewiston, Maine (226) 221 Baton Rouge (159) 222 Greenville, S.C. (161) 223 Columbus, Ga. (252) 224 Huntington, W.Va. (153) 225 Chico, Calif. (197) 226 Lawrence, Kans. (256) 227 Monroe, La. (136) 228 Middletown, Conn. (190) 229 Athens, Ga. (271) 230 Cedar Rapids, Iowa (238) 231 Fresno (242) 232 Greeley, Colo. (276) 233 Springfield, Ill. (219) 234 Hickory, N.C. (235) 235 Chattanooga (167) 236 Melbourne, Fla. (247) 237 Albany, Ga. (288) 238 Youngstown, Ohio (179) 239 Florence, S.C. (269) 240 Tyler, Texas (213) 241 Lansing (208) 242 Columbia, S.C. (231) 243 Bakersfield, Calif. (265) 244 McAllen, Texas (216) 245 Odessa, Texas (283) 246 Laredo, Texas (249) 247 Macon (250) 248 Lakeland, Fla. (262) 249 Wichita Falls, Texas (254) 250 Killeen, Texas (204) 251 New Britain, Conn. (N.L.) 252 Reading, Pa. (195) 253 Longview, Texas (210) 254 Joplin, Mo. (192) 255 Beaumont, Texas (218) 256 Wilmington, N.C. (263) 257 Biloxi, Miss. (274) 258 Anderson, Ind. (N.L.) 259 Salinas, Calif. (257) 260 State College, Pa. (280) 261 Savannah (272) 262 Canton, Ohio (212) 263 Erie, Pa. (201) 264 Bloomington, Ill. (202) 265 Fall River, Mass. (289) 266 Waco, Texas (248) 267 Wichita (193) 268 Modesto, Calif. (282) 269 Victoria, Texas (266) 270 Texarkana, Texas (166) 271 Jacksonville, N.C. (279) 272 Fort Pierce, Fla. (275) 273 Saginaw, Mich. (239) 274 Des Moines (291) 275 Kalamazoo (245) 276 Sioux City, Iowa (270) 277 Janesville/Beloit, Wis. (295) 278 Elkhart, Ind. (N.L.) 279 Peoria, Ill. (255) 280 Fayetteville, N.C. (287) 281 Visalia, Calif. (281) 282 Topeka (267) 283 Champaign, Ill. (214) 284 New London, Conn. (222) 285 Lima, Ohio (284) 286 Poughkeepsie, N.Y. (277) 287 Muskegon, Mich. (290) 288 Davenport, Iowa (261) 289 Anderson, S.C. (268) 290 New Bedford, Mass. (294) 291 Yuba City, Calif. (297) 292 Stockton, Calif. (285) 293 Mansfield, Ohio (278) 294 Atlantic City (300) 295 Battle Creek (296) 296 Waterbury, Conn. (264) 297 Rockford, Ill. (292) 298 Jackson, Mich. (299) 299 Flint, Mich. (293) 300 Benton Harbor, Mich. (298)

Each metropolitan area is followed by its 1988 ranking in parentheses. N.L.: No listing in 1988.

CHART: NOT AVAILABLE CREDIT: NO CREDIT CAPTION: THE TOP 10: HOW THEY RATE HEAD TO HEAD