Norfolk's public school system is one of the best things about this town. The 13 schools in the K-12 district are relatively diverse (71% of students are white), teacher-student ratios are often under 1:20, and the "Challenge" program offers differentiated instruction for academically talented children. Oh, and Johnny Carson is from here.
Major cities Omaha and Lincoln are both a little over 100 miles away, but Norfolk is a major retail trade center for northeast Nebraska, and manufacturing here employs over 4,000 people. Unemployment is extremely low. --D.G.
(I) Income tax notes:
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. Values adjusted for inflation each year. Tax credit.
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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.)
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