Family purchasing power (annual, cost-of-living adjusted)
$50,073
$68,109
Sales tax
7.00%
6.55%
State income tax rate (highest bracket)
7.19%*
6.46%
State income tax rate (lowest bracket)
0.71%*
2.74%
Auto insurance premiums (Average for the state)
$1,806
$2,207
Job growth % (2000-2005)
1.49%
10.97%
Housing
City stats
Best places average
Median home price
$188,987
$259,566
Home price gain (2004-2005)
8.40%
9.26%
Education
City stats
Best places average
Colleges, universities and professional schools
10
8
Junior colleges and technical institutes
2
0
Test scores reading (% +/- state average)
-20.5%
13.3%
Test scores math (% +/- state average)
-21.4%
16.9%
% students attending public/private schools
85.8/14.20
88.4/11.59
Quality of life
City stats
Best places average
Air quality index (% of days AQI ranked as good)
33.7%
71.9%
Personal crime risk (100 is nat'l average; lower is better)
97
45
Property crime risk (100 is nat'l average; lower is better)
120
74
Personal crime incidents (per 100,000)
812
228
Property crime incidents (per 100,000)
7,800
3,105
Median commute time (in minutes)
19.8
20.8
% population with commute 45 mins. or longer
6.9%
13.4%
Leisure and culture
City stats
Best places average
Movie theaters (within 15 miles)
24
22
Restaurants (within 15 miles)
3,267
2,268
Bars (within 15 miles)
357
127
Public golf courses (within 30 miles)
83
74
Libraries (within 15 miles)
78
43
Museums (accredited by AAM within 30 miles)
2
7
Ski resorts (within 100 miles)
3
10
Weather
City stats
Best places average
Annual precipitation (inches)
38.52
36.00
Clear days
72
107
High temp in July ° F
85.3°
87.7°
Low temp in Jan ° F
20.3°
23.5°
Health*
City stats
Best places average
Has health plan (% of residents)
84.7%
88.2%
Body mass index (avg. for residents)
28
27
Cancer mortality (per 100,000, age-adjusted)
205.7
191.3
Cardiac mortality (per 100,000)
150.2
202.0
Meet the neighbors
City stats
Best places average
Median age
31.7
34.5
Completed at least some college (% of residents)
49.0%
63.9%
Married
40.0%
54.3%
Divorced
12.5%
9.3%
Amount spent on vacations (domestic and foreign, household avg. per year)
$6,520
$7,549
*County data
Income tax notes:
15 states have statutory provision for automatic adjustment of tax brackets, personal exemption or standard deductions to the rate of inflation. Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska and Ohio indexes the personal exemption amounts only. Plus an additional $20 per exemption tax credit.
