Money's list of America's best small towns


Top 100
Rank City Population
51 Richland, WA 44,700
52 Rochester, MI 11,000
53 Mount Airy, MD 8,800
54 Brandon, MS 20,600
55 Somers, CT 11,800
56 Batavia, IL 27,300
57 Simsbury, CT 23,700
58 Shrewsbury, MA 34,600
59 Jackson, MO 13,500
60 River Vale, NJ 9,700
61 Pewaukee, WI 13,100
62 Ankeny, IA 40,600
63 Martinez, GA 30,600
64 West Linn, OR 25,000
65 Buffalo Grove, IL 43,100
66 Hooksett, NH 13,900
67 Bixby, OK 20,100
68 Saline, MI 9,000
69 Scituate, RI 10,900
70 Walnut, CA 30,900
71 Bountiful, UT 43,800
72 Cheshire, CT 29,600
73 Glocester, RI 10,300
74 Lindon, UT 10,000
75 East Lyme, CT 19,300
From the August 2009 issue
CNNMoney's Best Places database of 1,800-plus U.S. cities includes towns with populations 8,500 to 50,000 with satisfactory education and crime scores, where income is below 200% of the state median, and that are no more than 95% white – as well as cities with populations 90,000 and up.
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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