Money's list of America's best small towns


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50. Hanover, NH
Hanover
WINNER
Top 100 rank: 50
Population: 8,500
Compare Hanover to Top 10 Best Places
Best known as the home of Dartmouth College, Hanover is two hours from the nearest big city. But there's plenty to keep residents employed and entertained right here. Nearby engineering and tech firms, plus health-care employers and the college, have kept the jobless rate low.

There are plenty of cultural opportunities in town as well, including Dartmouth's Hopkins Center for the Arts.

The town is remarkably diverse for New England: 20% of them are nonwhite, and they hail from more than two dozen nations. However, homes here are pricey. --R.G.

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Hanover stats
Median family income
(per year)		 $110,684 $97,441
Job growth %
(2000-2008)*		 3.95% 19.58%
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Median home price $330,0001 $262,148
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Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)		 31.4% 25.6%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)		 27.1% 28.2%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 2 1
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 22 19
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)		 132 1,923
High temp in July ° F* 79.1° 85.5°
Low temp in Jan ° F* 5.4° 21.0°
Median age 22.9 36.6
Median family income
(per year)		 $110,684 $97,441
Family purchasing power
(annual, cost-of-living adjusted)		 $93,562 $95,041
State sales tax N.A. 5.63%
State income tax rate
(highest bracket)		 5.00%I 6.06%
State income tax rate
(lowest bracket)		 5.00%I 3.07%
Auto insurance premiums
(Average price quotes, for the state)		 $1,460 $1,744
Job growth %
(2000-2008)*		 3.95% 19.58%
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Median home price $330,0001 $262,148
Average property taxes
(2007)		 $7,829 $3,853
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Colleges, universities and
professional schools (within 30 miles)		 4 20
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)		 31.4% 25.6%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)		 27.1% 28.2%
% students attending public/private
schools (located within town limits)		 100.0/0.0 90.1/9.9
Air quality index*
(% of days AQI ranked as good)		 95.0% 78.6%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 2 1
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 22 19
Median commute time (in minutes) 9.4 22.5
% population with commute
45 mins. or longer		 3.1% 13.8%
% population walk or bike to work 51.5% 2.3%
Movie theaters
(within 15 miles)		 5 24
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)		 132 1,923
Bars
(within 15 miles)		 5 174
Public golf courses
(within 30 miles)		 29 148
Libraries
(within 15 miles)		 28 53
Museums (accredited by AAM;
within 30 miles)		 2 7
Ski resorts (within 100 miles) 62 17
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts) 0.7 1.2
Annual rainfall
(inches)		 39.50 39.77
% clear days in the area 25 27
High temp in July ° F* 79.1° 85.5°
Low temp in Jan ° F* 5.4° 21.0°
Median age 22.9 36.6
Completed at least some college
(% of residents)		 91.2% 71.9%
Married % 23.1% 62.9%
Divorced % 4.8% 7.7%
Racial diversity index
(100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)		 64.4 58.9
From the August 2009 issue
Notes:
* County data
(1) Median based on fewer than 100 home sales in the area.

(I) Income tax notes:
Applies to interest and dividend income only.
FORTUNE 500
There are no Fortune 500 companies in this state.
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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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