Money's list of America's best small cities


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73. Florissant, MO
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Florissant
WINNER
Top 100 rank: 73
Population: 52,200
Compare Florissant to Top 10 Best Places
Want affordable housing? Head to Florissant. With median home prices lower than $80,000, the city has the most reasonable housing costs on our Best Places list. In addition to good public elementary and high schools, this diverse city is home to a Christian private school, two theological colleges, and a branch of Lindenwood University, the fastest-growing university in the Midwest. All that's missing: a real downtown. -- L.M.
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Florissant stats
  City stats Best places avg.
Median family income
(per year)
$61,858 $96,825
Job growth %
(2000-2011)*
-6.53% 25.01%
See jobs near Florissant
Median home price $66,000 $269,768
See Florissant homes for sale
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)
71.8% 28.2%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)
61.1% 29.2%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 2 2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 26 20
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)
2,501 3,134
High temp in July ° F 89.8° 86.8°
Low temp in Jan ° F 21.2° 18.4°
Median age 38.3 35.2
Financial City stats Best places avg.
Median family income
(per year)
$61,858 $96,825
Family purchasing power
(annual, cost-of-living adjusted)
$67,827 $93,218
State sales tax 4.23% 5.57%
State income tax rate
(highest bracket)
6.00%I 7.31%
State income tax rate
(lowest bracket)
1.50%I 3.08%
Auto insurance premiums
(Average price quotes, for the state)
$1,563 $1,596
Job growth %
(2000-2011)*
-6.53% 25.01%
See jobs near Florissant
Housing
Median home price $66,000 $269,768
Average property taxes
(2010)
$2,211 $6,517
See Florissant homes for sale
Education
Colleges, universities and
professional schools (within 30 miles)
25 8
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)
71.8% 28.2%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)
61.1% 29.2%
% students attending public/private
schools (located within town limits)
86.9/13.1 91.5/8.5
Quality of life
Air quality index*
(% of days AQI ranked as good)
66.2% 77.3%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 2 2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 26 20
Median commute time (in minutes) 22.2 22.2
% population with commute
45 mins. or longer
9.2% 14.9%
% population walk or bike to work 1.3% 3.2%
Leisure and culture
Movie theaters
(within 15 miles)
32 33
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)
2,501 3,134
Bars
(within 15 miles)
343 199
Public golf courses
(within 30 miles)
152 169
Libraries
(within 15 miles)
70 70
Museums (accredited by AAM;
within 30 miles)
7 10
Ski resorts (within 100 miles) 1 6
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts) 2.4 1.4
Weather
Annual rainfall
(inches)
38.75 34.21
% clear days in the area 28 32
High temp in July ° F 89.8° 86.8°
Low temp in Jan ° F 21.2° 18.4°
Median age 38.3 35.2
Completed at least some college
(% of residents)
58.5% 72.6%
Married % 52.5% 57.9%
Divorced % 10.6% 8.0%
Racial diversity index
(100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)
149.3 118.4
From the September 2012 issue
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.

(I) Income tax notes:
The deduction for federal income tax is limited to $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for joint returns in Missouri and Montana, and to $5,950 for all filers in Oregon.

(II) Sales tax notes:
Most of Kansas City is located within Jackson County and is subject to a 7.85 percent sales tax. However, part of the city lies in Clay County and is subject to a total rate of 7.6 percent.
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