Best Places to Live

Money's list of America's best small cities

8 of 100

8. Columbia/Ellicott City, MD

Vote for this town as fan favorite: Living in a great place is even better when you've got your financial house in order. Like MONEY magazine on Facebook for tips on saving more, investing better and spending wisely. An antiques store in Ellicott City WINNER Top 100 rank: 8 Population: 66,100 Compare Ellicott City to Top 10 Best Places Living on the border of Columbia and Ellicott City offers the best of both worlds -- a charming, historic downtown with plenty of restaurants (Ellicott City) and a thoughtfully laid-out planned community with tons of big-box stores and a giant arena (Columbia). Families in this pair of unincorporated cities get to enjoy living in a community with a diverse population, reasonable housing costs, terrific schools, miles of hiking trails, and a new development, Blandair Park, which will include 20 acres of forest, wetlands, meadows, and a historic farm complex. Subscribe to Money Magazine Fan Favorite Towns It's your turn to choose. Which city should be No. 1? Best Places to Drive Contest: Where's your favorite place to take a weekend drive?

Living in a great place is even better when you've got your financial house in order. Like MONEY magazine on Facebook for tips on saving more, investing better and spending wisely.

An antiques store in Ellicott City

WINNER

Top 100 rank: 8
Population: 66,100
Compare Ellicott City to Top 10 Best Places

Living on the border of Columbia and Ellicott City offers the best of both worlds -- a charming, historic downtown with plenty of restaurants (Ellicott City) and a thoughtfully laid-out planned community with tons of big-box stores and a giant arena (Columbia).

Families in this pair of unincorporated cities get to enjoy living in a community with a diverse population, reasonable housing costs, terrific schools, miles of hiking trails, and a new development, Blandair Park, which will include 20 acres of forest, wetlands, meadows, and a historic farm complex.

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Fan Favorite Towns

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Best Places to Drive

Contest: Where's your favorite place to take a weekend drive?

Is Ellicott City a great town, or what?

Ellicott City stats

	City stats	Best places avg.
Median family income (per year)	$132,197	$96,825
Job growth % (2000-2011)*	18.30%	25.01%
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Median home price	$420,000	$269,768
See Ellicott City homes for sale
Test scores reading (% above/below state average)	23.9%	28.2%
Test scores math (% above/below average)	31.7%	29.2%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000)	2³	2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000)	26³	20
Restaurants (within 15 miles)	3,936	3,134
High temp in July ° F	87.9°	86.8°
Low temp in Jan ° F	22.7°	18.4°
Median age	35.9	35.2

Financial	City stats	Best places avg.
Median family income (per year)	$132,197	$96,825
Family purchasing power (annual, cost-of-living adjusted)	$110,904	$93,218
State sales tax	6.00%	5.57%
State income tax rate (highest bracket)	5.50%	7.31%
State income tax rate (lowest bracket)	2.00%	3.08%
Auto insurance premiums (Average price quotes, for the state)	$1,807	$1,596
Job growth % (2000-2011)*	18.30%	25.01%
See jobs near Ellicott City
Housing
Median home price	$420,000	$269,768
Average property taxes (2011)	$4,326	$6,517
See Ellicott City homes for sale
Education
Colleges, universities and professional schools (within 30 miles)	54	8
Test scores reading (% above/below state average)	23.9%	28.2%
Test scores math (% above/below average)	31.7%	29.2%
% students attending public/private schools (located within town limits)	92.1/7.9	91.5/8.5
Quality of life
Air quality index* (% of days AQI ranked as good)	N.A.	77.3%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000)	2³	2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000)	26³	20
Median commute time (in minutes)	25.6	22.2
% population with commute 45 mins. or longer	18.1%	14.9%
% population walk or bike to work	1.4%	3.2%
Leisure and culture
Movie theaters (within 15 miles)	34	33
Restaurants (within 15 miles)	3,936	3,134
Bars (within 15 miles)	314	199
Public golf courses (within 30 miles)	171	169
Libraries (within 15 miles)	85	70
Museums (accredited by AAM; within 30 miles)	28	10
Ski resorts (within 100 miles)	3	6
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts)	2.6	1.4
Weather
Annual rainfall (inches)	45.63	34.21
% clear days in the area	29	32
High temp in July ° F	87.9°	86.8°
Low temp in Jan ° F	22.7°	18.4°
Meet the neighbors
Median age	35.9	35.2
Completed at least some college (% of residents)	80.2%	72.6%
Married %	62.8%	57.9%
Divorced %	6.4%	8.0%
Racial diversity index (100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)	172.5	118.4

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More financial, housing, school, quality of life stats

From the September 2012 issue

Notes: *County data

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.

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How we picked the Best Places

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.) More

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Best Places to Live

Money's list of America's best small cities