(MONEY Magazine) – HOW OUR TOP 10 COMPARE

Why does Gainesville shine brightest? The answer lies in this table showing how each of our top 10 metro areas scores in nine broad categories. The city of 186,300 pulls a perfect 100 for its economy and rates highly in the weather category, as do the other four Florida cities. No. 2 Rochester is the best of the 10 in the health, crime, education and transit categories but hurt by its 47 inches of snow, and No. 4 Seattle is first in leisure as it was last year. Salem, N.H./Haverhill, Mass. (No. 7) takes arts honors, thanks to its proximity to Boston's attractions. The best performance figures in the top 10 are shown in stars.

1995 rank(1994) Economy Health Crime Housing Education Weather Transit Leisure Arts

1. Gainesville, Fla. (7) 100 59 6 48 45 79 41 8 18 2. Rochester, Minn. (2) 61 100 63 39 90 14 85 12 25 3. Jacksonville (67) 86 48 9 81 20 72 22 28 20 4. Seattle (8) 68 71 21 27 49 47 28 95 58 5. Ocala, Fla. (78) 91 31 18 82 10 79 24 17 12 6. Fort Lauderdale (56) 87 58 9 36 20 71 18 65 28 7. Salem, N.H./Haverhill, Mass. (146) 66 91 31 48 4 23 19 72 95 8. Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, N.C. (1) 77 83 22 41 71 38 38 5 23 9. Las Vegas (43) 65 82 17 57 28 54 33 28 10 10. Naples, Fla. (28) 94 36 23 51 13 77 36 34 11

1995 RANK '94 RANK 11 Tampa/St. Petersburg (69) 12 Manchester, N.H. (79) 13 Daytona Beach, Fla. (74) 14 Sarasota/Bradenton (37) 15 Charlottesville, Va. (77) 16 Madison, Wis. (16) 17 Orlando (61) 18 Sioux Falls, S.D. (9) 19 Nashua, N.H. (15) 20 Lafayette, Ind. (33) 21 Pueblo, Colo. (18) 22 Pensacola, Fla. (72) 23 Grand Forks, N.D. (21) 24 San Francisco (13) 25 Fitchburg, Mass. (167) 26 West Palm Beach, Fla. (150) 27 Greeley, Colo. (55) 28 Fort Walton Beach, Fla. (35) 29 Provo/Orem, Utah (3) 30 Fargo, N.D. (23) 31 Columbia, Mo. (20) 32 Fort Collins, Colo. (64) 33 Ann Arbor (180) 34 Fort Myers/Cape Coral, Fla. (41) 35 Austin (17) 36 Portland, Ore. (24) 37 Denver (12) 38 Reno (51) 39 Fort Worth/Arlington (91) 40 Waco, Texas (93) 41 Lakeland, Fla. (47) 42 Tacoma, Wash. (94) 43 Olympia, Wash. (39) 44 San Jose (5) 45 Middlesex County, Mass. (148) 46 Minneapolis/St. Paul (32) 47 Benton Harbor, Mich. (289) 48 Boulder (68) 49 Flint, Mich. (297) 50 Fort Pierce, Fla. (97) 51 Tyler, Texas (118) 52 Sheboygan, Wis. (29) 53 Brevard County, Fla. (133) 54 Muncie, Ind. (144) 55 Tallahassee (84) 56 Detroit (295) 57 Bloomington, Ind. (116) 58 Hagerstown, Md. (34) 59 Fayetteville, Ark. (31) 60 Tucson (19) 61 Punta Gorda, Fla. (83) 62 Salt Lake City/Ogden (4) 63 Bryan/College Station, Texas(27) 64 Santa Rosa, Calif. (89) 65 Stamford/Norwalk, Conn. (6) 66 Eugene/Springfield, Ore. (107) 67 Miami (80) 68 Colorado Springs (117) 69 Bremerton, Wash. (100) 70 Albuquerque (10) 71 Lubbock, Texas (50) 72 Central New Jersey (25) 73 Joplin, Mo. (62) 74 Yuma, Ariz. (36) 75 Boston (22) 76 Springfield, Mo. (48) 77 Roanoke (201) 78 Houma, La. (204) 79 Dothan, Ala. (111) 80 Brockton, Mass. (193) 81 Kalamazoo/Battle Creek (237) 82 Duluth, Minn. (87) 83 Brownsville, Texas (82) 84 Ventura, Calif. (42) 85 Lawton, Okla. (98) 86 San Diego (11) 87 New Orleans (169) 88 Orange County, Calif. (73) 89 Alexandria, La. (195) 90 Greensboro/Winston-Salem, N.C. (59) 91 Phoenix (14) 92 Jackson, Miss. (122) 93 Amarillo, Texas (138) 94 Los Angeles/Long Beach (66) 95 Hamilton/Middletown, Ohio (157) 96 Lansing (282) 97 Pittsburgh (53) 98 Longview, Texas (119) 99 Panama City, Fla. (106) 100 Sharon, Pa. (147) 101 Goldsboro, N.C. (58) 102 Honolulu (155) 103 Knoxville (126) 104 Monroe, La. (164) 105 Newburgh, N.Y. (217) 106 Abilene, Texas (46) 107 Lake Charles, La. (266) 108 Hickory, N.C. (105) 109 Clarksville, Tenn. (130) 110 Santa Fe (92) 111 Danbury, Conn. (70) 112 Florence, Ala. (137) 113 Baltimore (99) 114 Waterbury, Conn. (196) 115 Albany, Ga. (151) 116 San Luis Obispo, Calif. (45) 117 Santa Cruz, Calif. (134) 118 Riverside/San Bernardino, Calif. (86) 119 Portsmouth, N.H. (63) 120 Lincoln, Neb. (52) 121 Brazoria, Texas (38) 122 Grand Rapids/Muskegon (234) 123 Milwaukee (88) 124 State College, Pa. (95) 125 Lexington, Ky. (170) 126 Santa Barbara (110) 127 Long Island, N.Y. (145) 128 Steubenville, Ohio (262) 129 San Antonio (104) 130 Mobile (190) 131 Akron (149) 132 Wichita Falls, Texas (76) 133 Elkhart/Goshen, Ind. (185) 134 Fort Wayne (209) 135 Oakland (44) 136 Providence (192) 137 Napa Valley, Calif. (141) 138 Killeen/Temple, Texas (183) 139 Lafayette, La. (186) 140 Washington, D.C. (49) 141 New York City (123) 142 Syracuse (125) 143 Altoona, Pa. (114) 144 Dallas (71) 145 Cincinnati (60) 146 Athens, Ga. (121) 147 Greenville/Spartanburg, S.C. (213) 148 Rocky Mount, N.C. (81) 149 Wilmington, Del. (129) 150 St. Cloud, Minn. (103) 151 Portland, Maine (228) 152 Omaha (143) 153 New Bedford, Mass. (135) 154 Columbus, Ga. (124) 155 Binghamton, N.Y. (173) 156 La Crosse, Wis. (113) 157 Wheeling, W.Va. (249) 158 Salem, Ore. (240) 159 Cumberland, Md. (120) 160 Boise, Idaho (75) 161 Saginaw/Bay City/Midland, Mich. (298) 162 Houston (65) 163 Appleton/Oshkosh, Wis. (162) 164 Corpus Christi (142) 165 Dover, Del. (156) 166 Beaumont, Texas (188) 167 Monmouth/Ocean counties, N.J. (30) 168 Danville, Va. (214) 169 McAllen, Texas (153) 170 Bellingham, Wash. (85) 171 Biloxi/Gulfport, Miss. (176) 172 Terre Haute, Ind. (205) 173 Medford/Ashland, Ore. (163) 174 New Haven (26) 175 Dutchess County, N.Y. (259) 176 Little Rock (198) 177 Lynchburg, Va. (219) 178 Worcester, Mass. (102) 179 Sioux City, Iowa (175) 180 Laredo, Texas (152) 181 Bergen/Passaic counties, N.J. (178) 182 Waterloo, Iowa (165) 183 Chicago (225) 184 Janesville/Beloit, Wis. (255) 185 Champaign, Ill. (132) 186 Tuscaloosa, Ala. (210) 187 Buffalo/Niagara Falls (267) 188 Lancaster, Pa. (181) 189 Odessa/Midland, Texas (241) 190 Green Bay (159) 191 Richland, Wash. (233) 192 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (247) 193 Jamestown, N.Y. (161) 194 Johnstown, Pa. (206) 195 Rochester, N.Y. (199) 196 Jacksonville, N.C. (168) 197 Eau Claire, Wis. (179) 198 Myrtle Beach, S.C. (229) 199 Indianapolis (223) 200 Billings, Mont. (139) 201 Las Cruces, N.M. (57) 202 Decatur, Ala. (230) 203 Huntsville, Ala. (268) 204 Northwest Indiana (250) 205 Cleveland/Lorain/Elyria (158) 206 Charlotte, N.C. (90) 207 Allentown/Bethlehem, Pa. (280) 208 Anniston, Ala. (207) 209 Kansas City, Mo. (287) 210 Chico/Paradise, Calif. (171) 211 Huntington, W.Va. (202) 212 Wausau, Wis. (194) 213 Texarkana, Texas (258) 214 New London, Conn. (101) 215 Wilmington, N.C. (184) 216 Oklahoma City (227) 217 Asheville, N.C. (112) 218 Cedar Rapids, Iowa (238) 219 Charleston, W.Va. (265) 220 Galveston/Texas City (172) 221 Columbus, Ohio (154) 222 Jackson, Mich. (300) 223 Nashville (108) 224 Northwest New Jersey (54) 225 South Bend, Ind. (270) 226 Macon (226) 227 Monterey, Calif. (140) 228 Burlington, Vt. (252) 229 Des Moines (215) 230 Montgomery (220) 231 Merced, Calif. (182) 232 Spokane (218) 233 Greenville, N.C. (127) 234 Johnson City, Tenn. (211) 235 Mansfield, Ohio (281) 236 Tulsa (231) 237 Utica/Rome, N.Y. (256) 238 Erie, Pa. (200) 239 Youngstown, Ohio (283) 240 Baton Rouge (254) 241 Fayetteville, N.C. (174) 242 Kenosha, Wis. (261) 243 Yakima, Wash. (216) 244 Cumberland County, N.J. (96) 245 Lima, Ohio (286) 246 Savannah (242) 247 Sacramento (109) 248 St. Louis (208) 249 Shreveport, La. (269) 250 Fort Smith, Ark. (271) 251 Charleston, S.C. (260) 252 Atlanta (115) 253 Stockton, Calif. (236) 254 Atlantic/Cape May counties, N.J. (128) 255 Parkersburg, W.Va. (257) 256 Dayton/Springfield (248) 257 Bloomington/Normal, Ill. (197) 258 Decatur, Ill. (276) 259 Reading, Pa. (244) 260 Sumter, S.C. (278) 261 Toledo (293) 262 Racine, Wis. (239) 263 Williamsport, Pa. (136) 264 Bridgeport, Conn. (160) 265 York, Pa. (279) 266 Cape Cod, Mass. (177) 267 Albany/Schenectady/Troy, N.Y. (273) 268 El Paso (191) 269 Philadelphia (187) 270 Anchorage (277) 271 Memphis (232) 272 Topeka (263) 273 Wichita (272) 274 Louisville (245) 275 Redding, Calif. (131) 276 Richmond (253) 277 Evansville, Ind. (264) 278 Augusta, Ga. (284) 279 Springfield, Ill. (292) 280 Florence, S.C. (222) 281 Yolo, Calif. (275) 282 Mercer County, N.J. (40) 283 Norfolk/Virginia Beach (224) 284 Chattanooga (274) 285 Bakersfield, Calif. (221) 286 Canton, Ohio (288) 287 Fresno (166) 288 Hartford (212) 289 Harrisburg, Pa. (251) 290 Davenport, Iowa (290) 291 Columbia, S.C. (189) 292 Springfield, Mass. (243) 293 Rockford, Ill. (299) 294 Hudson County, N.J. (235) 295 Tulare County, Calif. (203) 296 Glens Falls, N.Y. (296) 297 Peoria (294) 298 Birmingham (246) 299 Modesto, Calif. (285) 300 Yuba City, Calif. (291)