Money's list of America's best small towns


Affordable homes
Residents who buy real estate in these towns from the Best Places database see their incomes go the furthest.
Rank City Median home sale price 2008
1 Duncanville, TX $99,648
2 New Haven, IN $89,152
3 Oak Ridge, TN $102,950
4 Holland, MI $94,018
5 Sterling Heights, MI $137,850
6 Deer Park, TX $138,135
7 Brownsburg, IN $131,000
8 Findlay, OH $100,000
9 Lake Jackson, TX $143,125
10 Noblesville, IN $150,000
11 Little Chute, WI $118,000
12 Kentwood, MI $117,000
13 Arlington, TX $122,549
14 Papillion, NE $155,500
15 Fremont, NE $95,000
16 Davenport, IA $99,312
17 Jenison, MI $128,250
18 La Vergne, TN $120,000
19 Derby, KS $143,871
20 Wooster, OH $104,500
21 Norwalk, OH $95,500
22 Fond du Lac, WI $110,000
23 New Baltimore, MI $160,000
24 Plainfield, IN $126,000
25 Merrillville, IN $122,309
From the August 2009 issue
Source: Onboard Informatics, actual sales collected from county and municipal assessors' offices. Only includes sales within town boundaries. Only towns where there were more than 100 home sales in 2008, and that were experiencing job and population growth, were considered. No more than 5 places within a state, and no more than 1 place within a county could qualify.
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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