Money's list of America's best small cities


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19. Lakeville, MN
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Lakeville
WINNER
Top 100 rank: 19
Population: 56,700
Compare Lakeville to Top 10 Best Places
Kids have it good in Lakeville, a city just 26 miles from Minneapolis. All 14 of Lakeville's public schools beat the state averages; summertime brings swimming, boating, and fishing at Marion and Orchard lakes. Lakeville's downtown is small but there are several shopping and restaurant destinations within driving distance, like the Burnsville Center shopping mall, just five miles north of the city. -- L.M.
Correction: An earlier version of this profile incorrectly mentioned hiking along the Genesee Valley Greenway. The Genesee Valley Greenway is in New York.
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Lakeville stats
  City stats Best places avg.
Median family income
(per year)
$101,995 $96,825
Job growth %
(2000-2011)*
34.73% 25.01%
See jobs near Lakeville
Median home price $205,588 $269,768
See Lakeville homes for sale
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)
38.2% 28.2%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)
59.2% 29.2%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 23 2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 233 20
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)
1,514 3,134
High temp in July ° F 83.6° 86.8°
Low temp in Jan ° F 3.8° 18.4°
Median age 33.2 35.2
Financial City stats Best places avg.
Median family income
(per year)
$101,995 $96,825
Family purchasing power
(annual, cost-of-living adjusted)
$92,136 $93,218
State sales tax 6.88% 5.57%
State income tax rate
(highest bracket)
7.85%I 7.31%
State income tax rate
(lowest bracket)
5.35%I 3.08%
Auto insurance premiums
(Average price quotes, for the state)
$1,614 $1,596
Job growth %
(2000-2011)*
34.73% 25.01%
See jobs near Lakeville
Housing
Median home price $205,588 $269,768
Average property taxes
(2011)
$3,297 $6,517
See Lakeville homes for sale
Education
Colleges, universities and
professional schools (within 30 miles)
29 8
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)
38.2% 28.2%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)
59.2% 29.2%
% students attending public/private
schools (located within town limits)
99.1/0.9 91.5/8.5
Quality of life
Air quality index*
(% of days AQI ranked as good)
83.0% 77.3%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 23 2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 233 20
Median commute time (in minutes) 22.7 22.2
% population with commute
45 mins. or longer
10.2% 14.9%
% population walk or bike to work 1.3% 3.2%
Leisure and culture
Movie theaters
(within 15 miles)
28 33
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)
1,514 3,134
Bars
(within 15 miles)
80 199
Public golf courses
(within 30 miles)
198 169
Libraries
(within 15 miles)
47 70
Museums (accredited by AAM;
within 30 miles)
5 10
Ski resorts (within 100 miles) 5 6
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts) 6.0 1.4
Weather
Annual rainfall
(inches)
31.43 34.21
% clear days in the area 26 32
High temp in July ° F 83.6° 86.8°
Low temp in Jan ° F 3.8° 18.4°
Median age 33.2 35.2
Completed at least some college
(% of residents)
77.3% 72.6%
Married % 69.4% 57.9%
Divorced % 7.7% 8.0%
Racial diversity index
(100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)
37.7 118.4
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.

(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.
These states use the personal exemption amounts provided in the federal Internal Revenue Code.
The income brackets reported for Minnesota are for single individuals. For married couples filing jointly, the same tax rates apply to income brackets ranging from $34,590, to $137,431.
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