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This ethnically diverse Southern California community an hour outside Los Angeles claims a higher median income than that of Beverly Hills. Excellent schools and safe neighborhoods are par for the course, and the city maintains its hallmark rural feel by clustering development -- there are still 3,000 acres of publicly owned open space. Many residents do face a long commute to work, though. Forty percent drive at least 45 minutes each way (and the infamous Los Angeles traffic doesn't help). --L.G.
Due to an error by our data provider, an earlier version listed incorrect stats for this city's number of colleges.
(I) Income tax notes:
17 states have statutory provision for automatically adjusting to the rate of inflation the dollar values of the income tax brackets, standard deductions, and/or personal exemptions. Massachusetts, Michigan, and Nebraska index the personal exemption only. Oregon does not index the income brackets for $125,000 and over. Because the inflation adjustments for 2012 are not yet available in some cases, the table may report the 2011 amounts. For joint returns, taxes are twice the tax on half the couple’s income. The personal exemption takes the form of a tax credit instead of a deduction. California imposes an additional 1% tax on taxable income over $1 million, making the maximum rate 10.3% over $1 million.
(II) Sales tax notes:
California (1%) and Virginia (1%) levy mandatory, statewide add-on sales taxes at the local level; these are included in their state sales tax rates.
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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