Money's list of America's best small towns


States
Top 100
Rank City Population
56 Batavia 27,300
65 Buffalo Grove 43,100
91 Glen Carbon 12,500
Other cities
Rank City Population
  Addison 37,000
  Algonquin 30,300
  Alsip 18,800
  Antioch 13,700
  Aurora 170,900
  Barrington 10,400
  Bartlett 41,300
  Belleville 41,000
  Bensenville 20,300
  Bloomingdale 21,900
  Bourbonnais 17,900
  Bradley 14,600
  Bridgeview 15,000
  Brookfield 18,200
  Burbank 27,600
  Carol Stream 39,800
  Cary 19,600
  Channahon 13,800
  Chicago 2,836,700
  Chicago Ridge 13,400
  Clarendon Hills 8,600
  Collinsville 25,900
  Crestwood 11,100
  Crete 9,000
  Crystal Lake 41,600
  Darien 22,400
  Downers Grove 49,000
  Edwardsville 24,500
  Elgin 104,300
  Elk Grove Village 33,500
  Elmhurst 45,300
  Evergreen Park 19,500
  Flossmoor 9,400
  Forest Park 15,300
  Fox Lake 11,100
  Frankfort 17,500
  Gages Lake 11,000
  Geneva 24,200
  Glen Ellyn 27,200
  Glendale Heights 32,000
  Glenview 46,300
  Glenwood 8,600
  Godfrey 17,400
  Goodings Grove 23,000
  Grayslake 21,600
  Gurnee 30,600
  Hazel Crest 14,200
  Hickory Hills 13,400
  Homewood 18,600
  Huntley 21,900
  Itasca 8,600
  Joliet 144,300
  La Grange 15,300
  La Grange Park 12,500
  Lake in the Hills 29,600
  Lake Villa 8,700
  Lake Zurich 20,600
  Lansing 26,900
  Lemont 16,000
  Libertyville 21,800
  Lincolnwood 11,900
  Lindenhurst 14,600
  Lisle 23,100
  Lombard 42,800
  Loves Park 24,200
  McHenry 26,500
  Minooka 10,300
  Mokena 18,900
  Montgomery 14,700
  Morton Grove 22,500
  Mundelein 32,700
  Naperville 142,500
  New Lenox 24,700
  Niles 28,800
  Norridge 14,000
  North Aurora 15,600
  Northbrook 34,000
  Northlake 11,500
  O'Fallon 27,100
  Oak Forest 27,900
  Oak Park 49,900
  Oswego 29,000
  Palos Heights 12,500
  Palos Hills 17,000
  Park Ridge 36,800
  Peoria 113,500
  Plainfield 35,400
  Prospect Heights 16,100
  River Grove 10,100
  Rockford 156,600
  Rolling Meadows 23,600
  Romeoville 37,100
  Roscoe 8,800
  Roselle 23,300
  Shorewood 14,800
  South Elgin 21,000
  South Holland 21,200
  Springfield 117,100
  St. Charles 32,800
  Steger 10,500
  Streamwood 37,300
  Sugar Grove 9,500
  Swansea 12,800
  Sycamore 17,200
  Troy 9,700
  Vernon Hills 24,100
  Villa Park 22,300
  Warrenville 13,100
  Wauconda 12,000
  Waukegan 91,100
  West Chicago 26,500
  Westchester 15,800
  Western Springs 12,600
  Westmont 25,000
  Wheeling 36,100
  Willowbrook 8,900
  Winfield 10,000
  Wood Dale 13,800
  Woodridge 34,200
  Woodstock 23,200
  Yorkville 15,200
From the August 2009 issue
Best Places Winners
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Help your town win!
Money picked the top 100. Now it’s your turn: Which town will be our fan favorite? Become a fan of your town and it might just make it to No. 1. Results updated monthly.
Town Become a fan # of fans
1. Louisville, CO Become a fan on facebook Add me! 4,256
2. Chanhassen, MN Become a fan on facebook Add me! 2,410
3. Papillion, NE Become a fan on facebook Add me! 1,581
4. Middleton, WI Become a fan on facebook Add me! 1,481
5. Milton, MA Become a fan on facebook Add me! 1,425
See the rest
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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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