Money's list of America's best small towns


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51. Richland, WA
Richland
WINNER
Top 100 rank: 51
Population: 44,700
Compare Richland to Top 10 Best Places
Just north of Richland is the Hanford Site, where the plutonium used in the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki was made. That history has remained a huge part of this small town: Richland High School students are known as the Bombers, and their symbol is the mushroom cloud.

No surprise, perhaps, that Richland's economy remains heavily high tech.

The town has lots of outdoor attractions too, such as golfing or boating on the Yakima, Snake, or Columbia rivers. --N.A.

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Richland stats
Median family income
(per year)		 $84,822 $97,441
Job growth %
(2000-2008)*		 18.59% 19.58%
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Median home price $182,250 $262,148
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Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)		 -2.1% 25.6%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)		 -0.9% 28.2%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 2 1
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 28 19
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)		 336 1,923
High temp in July ° F* 88.7° 85.5°
Low temp in Jan ° F* 26.7° 21.0°
Median age 38.2 36.6
Median family income
(per year)		 $84,822 $97,441
Family purchasing power
(annual, cost-of-living adjusted)		 $94,038 $95,041
State sales tax 6.50% 5.63%
State income tax rate
(highest bracket)		 N.A. 6.06%
State income tax rate
(lowest bracket)		 N.A. 3.07%
Auto insurance premiums
(Average price quotes, for the state)		 $1,863 $1,744
Job growth %
(2000-2008)*		 18.59% 19.58%
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Median home price $182,250 $262,148
Average property taxes N.A. $3,853
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Colleges, universities and
professional schools (within 30 miles)		 N.A. 20
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)		 -2.1% 25.6%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)		 -0.9% 28.2%
% students attending public/private
schools (located within town limits)		 89.9/10.1 90.1/9.9
Air quality index*
(% of days AQI ranked as good)		 92.0% 78.6%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 2 1
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 28 19
Median commute time (in minutes) 15.2 22.5
% population with commute
45 mins. or longer		 7.2% 13.8%
% population walk or bike to work 3.1% 2.3%
Movie theaters
(within 15 miles)		 3 24
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)		 336 1,923
Bars
(within 15 miles)		 28 174
Public golf courses
(within 30 miles)		 20 148
Libraries
(within 15 miles)		 9 53
Museums (accredited by AAM;
within 30 miles)		 N.A. 7
Ski resorts (within 100 miles) 6 17
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts) 0.7 1.2
Annual rainfall
(inches)		 7.83 39.77
% clear days in the area 28 27
High temp in July ° F* 88.7° 85.5°
Low temp in Jan ° F* 26.7° 21.0°
Median age 38.2 36.6
Completed at least some college
(% of residents)		 72.3% 71.9%
Married % 61.2% 62.9%
Divorced % 10.2% 7.7%
Racial diversity index
(100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)		 52.3 58.9
From the August 2009 issue
Notes:
* County data
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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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