Money's list of America's best small towns


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9. Lake St. Louis, MO
Lake St. Louis
WINNER
Top 100 rank: 9
Population: 13,900
Unemployment: 7.6%
Compare Lake St. Louis to Top 10 Best Places
Created 40 years ago as a resort community, this friendly town outside St. Louis has two man-made lakes, plus five parks, three golf courses, and a 650-horse equestrian center. But the place was soon colo­nized by full-time residents with children, drawn by the myriad activities and low crime.

Lake St. Louis has two main flaws. First, in order to enjoy all the town's perks, including a clubhouse with swimming pool and tennis courts, you must join the Community Association (annual dues: $450 per family)--and the 20% of residents who live outside the association's boundaries aren't eligible.

Sec­ond, Lake St. Louis is one town over from a General Motors plant that will complete layoffs of nearly half its 1,800 workers this month. That's not good news, since the jobless rate is already on the high side. How­ever, thanks in part to lots of health-care employers here, strong job growth is projected over the next five years.

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Lake St. Louis stats
Median family income
(per year)		 $95,139 $97,441
Job growth %
(2000-2008)*		 38.48% 19.58%
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Median home price $183,635 $262,148
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Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)		 49.5% 25.6%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)		 57.7% 28.2%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 1 1
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 16 19
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)		 844 1,923
High temp in July ° F* 88.8° 85.5°
Low temp in Jan ° F* 18.9° 21.0°
Median age 40.2 36.6
Median family income
(per year)		 $95,139 $97,441
Family purchasing power
(annual, cost-of-living adjusted)		 $104,894 $95,041
State sales tax 4.00% 5.63%
State income tax rate
(highest bracket)		 6.00%I 6.06%
State income tax rate
(lowest bracket)		 1.50%I 3.07%
Auto insurance premiums
(Average price quotes, for the state)		 $2,002 $1,744
Job growth %
(2000-2008)*		 38.48% 19.58%
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Median home price $183,635 $262,148
Average property taxes
(2007)		 $2,475 $3,853
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Colleges, universities and
professional schools (within 30 miles)		 17 20
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)		 49.5% 25.6%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)		 57.7% 28.2%
% students attending public/private
schools (located within town limits)		 87.5/12.5 90.1/9.9
Air quality index*
(% of days AQI ranked as good)		 79.0% 78.6%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 1 1
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 16 19
Median commute time (in minutes) 26.8 22.5
% population with commute
45 mins. or longer		 17.1% 13.8%
% population walk or bike to work 0.8% 2.3%
Movie theaters
(within 15 miles)		 11 24
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)		 844 1,923
Bars
(within 15 miles)		 76 174
Public golf courses
(within 30 miles)		 127 148
Libraries
(within 15 miles)		 22 53
Museums (accredited by AAM;
within 30 miles)		 5 7
Ski resorts (within 100 miles) 1 17
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts) 2.5 1.2
Annual rainfall
(inches)		 38.65 39.77
% clear days in the area 28 27
High temp in July ° F* 88.8° 85.5°
Low temp in Jan ° F* 18.9° 21.0°
Median age 40.2 36.6
Completed at least some college
(% of residents)		 72.9% 71.9%
Married % 69.7% 62.9%
Divorced % 7.8% 7.7%
Racial diversity index
(100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)		 24.0 58.9
From the August 2009 issue
Notes:
* County data

(I) Income tax notes:
Local rates are excluded; 14 states have county or city level income taxes. In each of these states the average rate for all counties and cities, weighted by total personal income within each jurisdiction, is: 0.19% in Ala.; 0.06% in Ark.; 0.16% in Del.; 1.16% in Ind.; 0.3% in Iowa.; 0.76% in Ky.; 2.98% in Md.; 0.44% in Mich.; 0.12% in Mo.; 0.09% in N.J.; 1.7% in N.Y.; 1.82% in Ohio; 0.36% in Ore.; and 1.25% in Pa.
Federal tax deduction limited to $5,000 or $10,000.
Some states effectively double the bracket widths for joint filers (AL, AZ, CT, HI, ID, KS, LA, ME, NE, NY, OR). CA doubles all bracket widths except the $1,000,000 bracket. Some states increase, but don't double, all or some bracket widths for joint filers (GA, MN, NM, NC, ND, OK, RI, VT, WI). Some states do not adjust their brackets for joint filers (AR, DE, IA, KY, MS, MO, MT, OH, SC, VA, WV, DC). Of these states, some permit married couples to file separately to avoid a marriage penalty, and some allow joint filers to make an adjustment to reduce their tax after it is calculated. MD decreases some of its bracket widths and increases others. NJ adds a 2.45% rate and doubles some bracket widths.
Deduction or exemption tied to federal tax system. Federal deductions and exemptions are indexed for inflation.
FORTUNE 500
Emerson Electric 94
Express Scripts 115
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5. Milton, MA Become a fan on facebook Add me! 1,425
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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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