Money's list of America's best small towns


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56. Batavia, IL
Batavia
WINNER
Top 100 rank: 56
Population: 27,300
Compare Batavia to Top 10 Best Places
Lined with 19th-century limestone buildings, Batavia has an old-town feel despite its location 35 miles west of downtown Chicago and easy access to commuter trains.

The Fox River -- which once powered enough factories to make Batavia the windmill manufacturing capital of the world -- bisects the town and draws crowds each summer for the Mid-American Canoe Race and the Batavia Sprint Distance Triathalon & Duathalon.

Batavia is also home to nearly 200 manufacturing, research, and warehousing firms as well as the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, a world-renowned center for physics research. --D.G.

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Batavia stats
Median family income
(per year)		 $101,836 $97,441
Job growth %
(2000-2008)*		 22.81% 19.58%
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Median home price $278,500 $262,148
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Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)		 30.5% 25.6%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)		 25.5% 28.2%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 13 1
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 163 19
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)		 2,823 1,923
High temp in July ° F* 85.7° 85.5°
Low temp in Jan ° F* 14.1° 21.0°
Median age 34.7 36.6
Median family income
(per year)		 $101,836 $97,441
Family purchasing power
(annual, cost-of-living adjusted)		 $111,296 $95,041
State sales tax 6.25% 5.63%
State income tax rate
(highest bracket)		 3.00% 6.06%
State income tax rate
(lowest bracket)		 3.00% 3.07%
Auto insurance premiums
(Average price quotes, for the state)		 $1,532 $1,744
Job growth %
(2000-2008)*		 22.81% 19.58%
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Median home price $278,500 $262,148
Average property taxes N.A. $3,853
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Colleges, universities and
professional schools (within 30 miles)		 30 20
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)		 30.5% 25.6%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)		 25.5% 28.2%
% students attending public/private
schools (located within town limits)		 94.2/5.8 90.1/9.9
Air quality index*
(% of days AQI ranked as good)		 77.0% 78.6%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 13 1
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 163 19
Median commute time (in minutes) 20.4 22.5
% population with commute
45 mins. or longer		 18.8% 13.8%
% population walk or bike to work 3.0% 2.3%
Movie theaters
(within 15 miles)		 26 24
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)		 2,823 1,923
Bars
(within 15 miles)		 122 174
Public golf courses
(within 30 miles)		 322 148
Libraries
(within 15 miles)		 44 53
Museums (accredited by AAM;
within 30 miles)		 3 7
Ski resorts (within 100 miles) 13 17
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts) 1.2 1.2
Annual rainfall
(inches)		 37.53 39.77
% clear days in the area 23 27
High temp in July ° F* 85.7° 85.5°
Low temp in Jan ° F* 14.1° 21.0°
Median age 34.7 36.6
Completed at least some college
(% of residents)		 72.3% 71.9%
Married % 63.2% 62.9%
Divorced % 7.9% 7.7%
Racial diversity index
(100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)		 38.0 58.9
From the August 2009 issue
Notes:
* County data
(3) Crime incidences are estimates based on FBI 2007 Universal Crime and incidence reports, OnBoard analysis.
FORTUNE 500
Archer Daniels Midland 27
State Farm Insurance Cos. 31
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How we picked the Best Places
Using statistics from data provider Onboard Informatics, 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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