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The Land of the Sleeping Giant's mountains, hills, and parks coupled with Quinnipiac University's college-town energy make this classic New England town the ideal abode for many growing families. Hamden prides itself on having an involved community; its all-volunteer orchestra, the Hamden Symphony Orchestra, performs year-round. The city does its part to keep residents close to home with big small-business incentives; still, many locals commute to nearby New Haven, 30 minutes down the road. --D.M.
Notes:
*County data
Due to erroneous job, cost-of-living, and test score stats for a small number of places, this city's rank changed slightly from an earlier version.
Details.
Due to an error by our data provider, an earlier version listed incorrect stats for this city's number of colleges.
(3) Crime incidences are estimates based on FBI 2011 Universal Crime and incidence reports, OnBoard analysis.
(I) Income tax notes:
For joint returns, taxes are twice the tax on half the couple’s income. Connecticut’s personal exemption incorporates a standard deduction. An additional tax credit is allowed ranging from 75% to 0% based on state adjusted gross income. Exemption amounts are phased out for higher income taxpayers until they are eliminated for households earning over $71,000.
Using statistics from data services company Onboard Informatics, we crunched the numbers in order to zero in on America's best small cities for families. (Last year, we looked at small towns, with populations between 8,500 and 50,000.)
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