Best Places to Live

Money's list of America's best small cities

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40. Bellevue, WA

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. WINNER Top 100 rank: 40 Population: 124,300 Compare Bellevue to Top 10 Best Places Thanks to major local employers like Microsoft, Expedia, Coinstar, and Puget Sound Energy, Bellevue has more employees than it has residents. Luckily its students have an edge on the competitive corporate world, attending schools that are regularly ranked among the top in the state. Traffic into Seattle is a perpetual snarl, but a light-rail line that will connect Bellevue and Seattle is in the works. --E.R. 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.

WINNER

Top 100 rank: 40
Population: 124,300
Compare Bellevue to Top 10 Best Places

Thanks to major local employers like Microsoft, Expedia, Coinstar, and Puget Sound Energy, Bellevue has more employees than it has residents. Luckily its students have an edge on the competitive corporate world, attending schools that are regularly ranked among the top in the state. Traffic into Seattle is a perpetual snarl, but a light-rail line that will connect Bellevue and Seattle is in the works. --E.R.

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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?

Is Bellevue a great town, or what?

Bellevue stats

	City stats	Best places avg.
Median family income (per year)	$104,928	$96,825
Job growth % (2000-2011)*	5.71%	25.01%
See jobs near Bellevue
Median home price	$428,376	$269,768
See Bellevue homes for sale
Test scores reading (% above/below state average)	16.8%	28.2%
Test scores math (% above/below average)	30.2%	29.2%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000)	1	2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000)	30	20
Restaurants (within 15 miles)	5,228	3,134
High temp in July ° F	75.1°	86.8°
Low temp in Jan ° F	35.1°	18.4°
Median age	36.3	35.2

Financial	City stats	Best places avg.
Median family income (per year)	$104,928	$96,825
Family purchasing power (annual, cost-of-living adjusted)	$95,043	$93,218
State sales tax	6.50%	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)	$1,584	$1,596
Job growth % (2000-2011)*	5.71%	25.01%
See jobs near Bellevue
Housing
Median home price	$428,376	$269,768
Average property taxes (2011)	$5,362	$6,517
See Bellevue homes for sale
Education
Colleges, universities and professional schools (within 30 miles)	25	8
Test scores reading (% above/below state average)	16.8%	28.2%
Test scores math (% above/below average)	30.2%	29.2%
% students attending public/private schools (located within town limits)	82.1/17.9	91.5/8.5
Quality of life
Air quality index* (% of days AQI ranked as good)	89.2%	77.3%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000)	1	2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000)	30	20
Median commute time (in minutes)	19.7	22.2
% population with commute 45 mins. or longer	6.4%	14.9%
% population walk or bike to work	3.4%	3.2%
Leisure and culture
Movie theaters (within 15 miles)	56	33
Restaurants (within 15 miles)	5,228	3,134
Bars (within 15 miles)	374	199
Public golf courses (within 30 miles)	155	169
Libraries (within 15 miles)	93	70
Museums (accredited by AAM; within 30 miles)	9	10
Ski resorts (within 100 miles)	3	6
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts)	0.8	1.4
Weather
Annual rainfall (inches)	38.55	34.21
% clear days in the area	16	32
High temp in July ° F	75.1°	86.8°
Low temp in Jan ° F	35.1°	18.4°
Meet the neighbors
Median age	36.3	35.2
Completed at least some college (% of residents)	82.5%	72.6%
Married %	55.7%	57.9%
Divorced %	10.0%	8.0%
Racial diversity index (100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)	185.7	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.

Home deals | Colleges | More

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Fan Favorite Towns

Money picked the top 100. Now it's your turn: Which town will be our fan favorite? 'Like' your town and it might just make it to No. 1.

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Video

Carmel's $5M ultimate party house

What home is complete without a casino and Star Wars-themed bar? Get an entertaining palace in Carmel, Ind., Money's Best Place to Live. Watch
Irvine's tasty food truck scene

The Lime Truck's owner serves up California fusion in his old hometown, and is a driving force behind the O.C.'s growing mobile food scene. Watch
Homes in Best Places: What $500K buys

Get a modest condo in tony Greenwich, CT, no. 29 on Money's Best Places to Live. Or a house with a sundeck in no. 94 Coral Springs, FL. Watch
Newton grows veggies - and community

At the Newton Community Farm, locals come together to help harvest, weed - and even rebuild its farmstand after a fire. Watch
Find charming homes, Texas-sized

In 2010, CNNMoney visited McKinney, now No. 2 on Money's 2012 Best Places to Live, and found it's growing fast. Watch
Eden Prairie's 'Minnesota-nice' vibe

In 2010, CNNMoney visited Eden Prairie, now No. 3 on Money's 2012 Best Places to Live, and found residents love the people and open space. Watch

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