(MONEY Magazine) – HOW OUR TOP 10 COMPARE

If you want to know why Madison, Wis. is this year's No. 1, look at how each of our top 10 metropolitan areas scored in nine broad categories. Madison did especially well in four: economy, health, transit and education. No. 2 Punta Gorda, Fla. zoomed up 59 spots with its economy's perfect score, due partly to 16.3% projected job growth through 1999. Also, naturally, all five of our top 10 Florida areas rated highly for weather. No. 3 Rochester, Minn. is tops in health, with the Mayo Clinic. The safest place among our top 10 is No. 5 Ann Arbor, which also has a strong economy and great health care. Recent job growth of 6.76% helped propel Austin to No. 8. And our most populous winner, No. 9 Seattle, led the pack in leisure choices, with its three pro teams. The best performance figures in the top 10 are indicated by circles. --L.M.

[A] Economy [Top Performer: Punta Gorda, Fla.] [B] Health [Top Performer: Rochester, Minn.] [C] Crime [Top Performer: Ann Arbor] [D] Housing [Top Performer: Fort Myers/Cape Coral, Fla.] [E] Education [Top Performer: Austin] [F] Weather [Top Performer: Lakeland, Fla.] [G] Transit [Top Performer: Rochester, Minn.] [H] Leisure [Top Performer: Seattle] [I] Arts [Top Performer: Ann Arbor]

1996 rank (1995) [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I]

1 Madison, Wis. (16) 94 99 49 27 65 11 85 8 28

2 Punta Gorda, Fla. (61) 100 23 56 25 29 77 28 21 27

3 Rochester, Minn. (2) 65 100 65 49 61 14 100 12 27

4 Fort Lauderdale (6) 91 57 8 49 37 71 17 41 26

5 Ann Arbor (33) 84 75 80 18 48 19 42 34 45

6 Fort Myers/ Cape Coral, Fla. (34) 98 23 22 59 30 77 22 16 14

7 Gainesville, Fla. (1) 90 37 5 45 55 79 47 16 18

8 Austin (35) 95 27 23 41 80 68 26 15 18

9 Seattle (4) 70 61 22 14 46 47 60 90 37

10 Lakeland, Fla. (41) 78 47 11 52 36 81 19 37 18

1996 Metropolitan area (1995)

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

Notes: N.L.: Not listed in 1995 1 Includes Hunterdon, Middlesex and Somerset counties 2 Includes Gary and Hammond 3 Includes Essex, Morris, Sussex, Union and Warren counties