Money's list of America's best small cities


65 of 100
BACKNEXT
65. Chapel Hill, NC
Chapel Hill
Students around the Old Well on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
WINNER
Top 100 rank: 65C
Population: 49,900
Compare Chapel Hill to Top 10 Best Places
Chapel Hill is home to a little school you may have heard of (hint: it's the oldest public university in the country). But even if you're past your dorm days, the town has plenty to offer.

Arts and entertainment are a significant part of life here. There are two museums, a historic planetarium, a botanical garden and dozens of pubs and concert venues in the town's 20 square miles to keep your senses stimulated and your heart content.

UNC's reputation has trickled down to the public school district, where East Chapel Hill High is consistently ranked as one of the nation's best high schools. What's more, the town's relatively low tax rates mean your hard-earned dollars will go far.

Median family income
(per year)		 $93,470 $93,313
Family purchasing power
(annual, cost-of-living adjusted)		 $73,367 $84,802
Sales tax 6.75% 6.60%
State income tax rate
(highest bracket)		 8.00%I 5.22%
State income tax rate
(lowest bracket)		 6.00%I 2.42%
Auto insurance premiums
(Average price quotes, for the state)		 $1,816 $1,854
Job growth %
(2000-2007)		 3.94% 18.60%
Median home price $275,750 $293,712
Average property taxes
(2007)		 $3,458 $4,072
See Chapel Hill homes for sale
See million-dollar homes
Colleges, universities and
professional schools (within 30 miles)		 11 40
Junior colleges and
technical institutes (within 30 miles)		 7 20
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)		 15.0% 17.3%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)		 25.4% 16.6%
% students attending public/private
schools (located within town limits)		 90.6/8.3 89.5/10.5
Air quality index*
(% of days AQI ranked as good)		 68.7% 76.0%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 5 2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 44 25
Median commute time
(in minutes)		 16.2 23.0
% population with commute
45 mins. or longer		 5.2% 15.8%
% population walk or bike to work 18.1% 3.0%
Movie theaters
(within 15 miles)		 16 51
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)		 1,160 4,141
Bars
(within 15 miles)		 70 338
Public golf courses
(within 30 miles)		 107 242
Libraries
(within 15 miles)		 26 90
Museums (accredited by AAM;
within 30 miles)		 5 11
Ski resorts (within 100 miles) N.A. 13
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts) 1.2 1.5
Annual rainfall
(inches)		 46.38 36.31
% clear days in the area 30 30
High temp in July ° F 88.8° 87.8°
Low temp in Jan ° F 28.4° 22.9°
Has health plan
(% of residents)		 85.5% 88.2%
Body mass index (avg. for residents) 26 27
Diabetes rates
(% of residents diagnosed)		 9.6% 9.6%
Hypertension rates
(% of residents diagnosed)		 27.6% 27.3%
Median age 26.5 36.0
Completed at least some college
(% of residents)		 89.1% 73.6%
Married 33.2% 57.5%
Divorced 5.2% 8.3%
Racial diversity index
(100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)		 108.3 104.0
Amount spent on vacations
(domestic and foreign, household avg. per year)		 $7,906 $8,012
From the August 2008 issue
Notes:
* County data
** State data
(C) = Only cities with populations between 50,000 and 300,000 were eligible for this year's Best Places to Live list.
(I) Income tax notes:
The tax brackets reported are for single individuals. For married taxpayers, the same rates apply to income brackets ranging from $21,250 to $200,000. Lower exemption amounts allowed for high income taxpayers. Tax rate scheduled to decrease after tax year 2007.
These states allow personal exemption or standard deductions as provided in the IRC. Utah allows a personal exemption equal to three-fourths the federal exemptions.
See Chapel Hill in...
...What Readers Say
They speak out on Chapel Hill and other places ...
Nearby...
FORTUNE 500
Bank of America Corp. 9
Wachovia Corp. 38
See the rest
FORTUNE: Best to work for
SAS 29
Kimley-Horn 38
See the rest
EMAILFeedback on the Best Places to Live list?
E-mail the editors
On Board LLC
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.
Homes For Sale
Homes for sale provided by Trulia Real Estate Search.
  • Find Homes for sale
    Real estate and homes for sale on Trulia

  • Property Type
  • Find a home in:
  • New York | Atlanta | Chicago | Los Angeles
  • Washington D.C | Houston | Philadelphia | More options
Search by city or state
City
State
Video
  • NEXT
    Why Plymouth is No. 1
    A sense of home, parks and award-winning schools help put this Minnesota city at the top of Money's Best Places to Live list. Watch
  • NEXT
    BACK
    Why Fort Collins is a natural pick
    Green-minded residents love this Colorado city, no. 2 on Money's Best Places to Live list, where you can borrow a bike, and enjoy the nearby mountains. Watch
  • NEXT
    BACK
    Naperville's family feel
    Great schools, a vibrant downtown and low crime help put this small city near Chicago at No. 3 on Money's Best Places to Live list. Watch
  • NEXT
    BACK
    Hoboken's great singles scene
    For the second year running, Hoboken takes the top spot for the over 30 and single scene, as part of Money's Best Places to Live. Watch
  • BACK
    Where to beat the gas crunch
    In places like State College, Pa., commutes are short or many residents get to work in ways that dont use a lot of fuel. Watch
 
iReport
iReport
Is your town a great place to live?
Do you live in a great place? Does your city have great cafes and culture? Lovely affordable homes? Low crime and a thriving downtown? A thriving local economy? Amazing neighbors? Show us why your town is remarkable: Send your photos and videos, and they could be profiled in an upcoming story.
 
Top 3

City Median income
New Canaan, CT $231,138
Darien, CT $218,130
Lake Forest, IL $212,122
See the rest
City % single
Hoboken, NJ 57.7%
Cambridge, MA 52.4%
Somerville, MA 51.4%
See the rest
City Median home price
Nicholasville, KY $70,000
Watauga, TX $117,040
Redan, GA $115,000
See the rest
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
Contact Us Closed Captioning Manage Cookies+ Site Map

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.