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46. North Hempstead, NY
North Hempstead
Manhasset Bay, North Hempstead
WINNER
Top 100 rank: 46
Population: 222,600
Compare North Hempstead to Top 10 Best Places
North Hempstead is a town that takes pride in its ports. Just south of the Long Island Sound and its many bays, the sprawling area of southeast New York is a seafarer's paradise.

To balance out the bays, North Hempstead's affluent community unwinds at the Harbor Links Golf Course, comprising nearly 7,000 yards of golf, or by taking a serene stroll through Clark Botanic Gardens.

Real estate is pricey here, but if you can afford it, you'll appreciate the town's world-class shopping at Americana Mall – Prada, Hermes and Tiffany & Co. are just a few of the tenants.

Median family income
(per year)		 $119,619 $93,313
Family purchasing power
(annual, cost-of-living adjusted)		 $72,894 $84,802
Sales tax** 4.00% 6.60%
State income tax rate
(highest bracket)		 6.85%I 5.22%
State income tax rate
(lowest bracket)		 4.00%I 2.42%
Auto insurance premiums
(Average price quotes, for the state)		 $2,566 $1,854
Job growth %
(2000-2007)		 2.90% 18.60%
Median home price $649,000 $293,712
Average property taxes
(2006)		 $9,595 $4,072
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Colleges, universities and
professional schools (within 30 miles)		 169 40
Junior colleges and
technical institutes (within 30 miles)		 48 20
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)		 46.8% 17.3%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)		 26.2% 16.6%
% students attending public/private
schools (located within town limits)		 81.3/15.9 89.5/10.5
Air quality index*
(% of days AQI ranked as good)		 78.6% 76.0%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 23 2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) N.A.3 25
Median commute time
(in minutes)		 29.2 23.0
% population with commute
45 mins. or longer		 32.0% 15.8%
% population walk or bike to work 4.3% 3.0%
Movie theaters
(within 15 miles)		 344 51
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)		 25,772 4,141
Bars
(within 15 miles)		 1,955 338
Public golf courses
(within 30 miles)		 437 242
Libraries
(within 15 miles)		 531 90
Museums (accredited by AAM;
within 30 miles)		 36 11
Ski resorts (within 100 miles) 35 13
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts) 2.7 1.5
Annual rainfall
(inches)		 45.11 36.31
% clear days in the area 29 30
High temp in July ° F 82.6° 87.8°
Low temp in Jan ° F 25.1° 22.9°
Has health plan
(% of residents)		 89.9% 88.2%
Body mass index (avg. for residents) 26 27
Diabetes rates
(% of residents diagnosed)		 10.4% 9.6%
Hypertension rates
(% of residents diagnosed)		 28.3% 27.3%
Median age 43.3 36.0
Completed at least some college
(% of residents)		 70.9% 73.6%
Married 58.0% 57.5%
Divorced 5.0% 8.3%
Racial diversity index
(100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)		 116.3 104.0
Amount spent on vacations
(domestic and foreign, household avg. per year)		 $8,794 $8,012
From the August 2008 issue
Notes:
* County data
** State data
(3) Crime incidences are estimates based on FBI 2006 Universal Crime and incidence reports, OnBoard analysis.

(I) Income tax notes:
For joint returns, the taxes are twice the tax imposed on half the income.
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Information powered by Onboard Informatics
Some data may be provided courtesy of its partners.
Sperling's Best Places
Additional data and consulting services provided by Bert Sperling's bestplaces.net.
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How we picked the Best Places
Using statistics from data provider Onboard Informatics and consultant Bert Sperling of BestPlaces.net, 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 7,500 and 50,000.) More
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