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42. Solon, OH
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Solon, OH
42
Top 50 rank: 42
Population: 23,012

This Cleveland suburb boasts one of the top 10 school districts in Ohio and is home to employers such as Nestlé, L'Oréal, and Cleveland Clinic. And there's plenty to do when the work or school day is over: Solon has its own philharmonic orchestra, a community center with a packed calendar of programming, and a performing-arts center that offers classes.

Want to get outdoors? Solon has 734 acres of parks, sports fields, and open space -- and Lake Erie is just 20 miles away. --S.M.

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Solon, OH
Town stats
Median family income (per year)
$106,828
Job growth % (2010-2012)
4.80%
Median home price (2012)
$211,500
Reading test scores (% above/below average)
20.0%
Math test scores (% above/below average)
29.0%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000)
1
Property crime incidents (per 1,000)
9
Financials
Town stats
Median family income (per year)
$106,828
Family purchasing power (annual, cost-of-living adjusted)
$105,104
Sales tax
7.75%
State income tax rate (highest bracket)
5.93%I
State income tax rate (lowest bracket)
0.59%I
Auto insurance premiums (Average price quotes, for the state)
$1,381
Job growth % (2010-2012)
4.80%
Housing
Median home price (2012)
$211,500
Average property taxes
(2011)
$4,471
Education
Reading test scores (% above/below state average)
20.0%
Test scores math (% above/below average)
29.0%
% students attending public/private schools (located within town limits)
92.0/8.0
Quality of life
Air quality index* (% of days AQI ranked as good)
44.8%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000)
1
Property crime incidents (per 1,000)
9
Median commute time (in minutes)
23.1
% population with commute 45 mins. or longer
10.6%
% population walk or bike to work
1.3%
Leisure and culture
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts)
0.4
Weather
Annual rainfall (inches)
38.71
% clear days in the area
45%
High temp in July ° F
80°
Low temp in Jan ° F
15.6°
Meet the neighbors
Median age
42.2
Completed at least some college (% of residents)
76.5%
Married %
63.7%
Divorced %
6.5%
Racial diversity index (100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)
101.2
View moreless See Solon homes for sale
From the September 2013 issue

Source: Onboard Informatics. Details


(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.
Ohio provides an additional tax credit of $20 per exemption.
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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.

Town # of Likes
1. Sharon, MA 11,968
2. Apex, NC 10,738
3. Westford, MA 6,023
4. Peachtree City, GA 5,632
5. Hillsborough, NJ 5,329
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How we pick the Best Places
Using statistics from data services company Onboard Informatics and other sources, we crunched the numbers in order to zero in on America's best small towns for families. (Last year, we looked at small cities, with populations between 50,000 and 300,000.) More

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