Money's list of America's best small cities


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Houston, TX
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Top 100 rank: N.A.c
Population: 2,242,193
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Houston stats
  City stats Best places avg.
Median family income
(per year)		 $48,889 $96,825
Job growth %
(2000-2011)*		 11.93% 25.01%
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Median home price $158,750 $269,768
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Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)		 -1.4% 28.2%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)		 0.1% 29.2%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 10 2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 51 20
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)		 9,754 3,134
High temp in July ° F 93.6° 86.8°
Low temp in Jan ° F 44.4° 18.4°
Median age 31.9 35.2
Financial City stats Best places avg.
Median family income
(per year)		 $48,889 $96,825
Family purchasing power
(annual, cost-of-living adjusted)		 $54,625 $93,218
State sales tax 6.25% 5.57%
State income tax rate
(highest bracket)		 0.00% 7.31%
State income tax rate
(lowest bracket)		 0.00% 3.08%
Auto insurance premiums
(Average price quotes, for the state)		 $1,492 $1,596
Job growth %
(2000-2011)*		 11.93% 25.01%
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Housing
Median home price $158,750 $269,768
Average property taxes
(2011)		 $3,029 $6,517
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Education
Colleges, universities and
professional schools (within 30 miles)		 18 8
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)		 -1.4% 28.2%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)		 0.1% 29.2%
% students attending public/private
schools (located within town limits)		 90.6/9.4 91.5/8.5
Quality of life
Air quality index*
(% of days AQI ranked as good)		 41.8% 77.3%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 10 2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 51 20
Median commute time (in minutes) 23.4 22.2
% population with commute
45 mins. or longer		 15.9% 14.9%
% population walk or bike to work 3.9% 3.2%
Leisure and culture
Movie theaters
(within 15 miles)		 79 33
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)		 9,754 3,134
Bars
(within 15 miles)		 814 199
Public golf courses
(within 30 miles)		 189 169
Libraries
(within 15 miles)		 119 70
Museums (accredited by AAM;
within 30 miles)		 6 10
Ski resorts (within 100 miles) 0 6
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts) 0.4 1.4
Weather
Annual rainfall
(inches)		 53.02 34.21
% clear days in the area 25 32
High temp in July ° F 93.6° 86.8°
Low temp in Jan ° F 44.4° 18.4°
Median age 31.9 35.2
Completed at least some college
(% of residents)		 50.9% 72.6%
Married % 44.2% 57.9%
Divorced % 9.9% 8.0%
Racial diversity index
(100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)		 307.6 118.4
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.

(II) Sales tax notes:
Most of Austin is located within Travis and Williamson counties and is subject to an 8.25 percent sales tax. However, part of the city lies in Hays County and is subject to a total rate of 7.25 percent.
c = Only cities with populations between 50,000 and 300,000 were eligible for this year's Best Places to Live list.
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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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