Money's list of America's best small cities


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15. Eagan, MN
Eagan
WINNER
Top 100 rank: 15
Population: 64,000
Compare Eagan to Top 10 Best Places
Less than 20 minutes south of St. Paul, Eagan works hard to be family-friendly.

Come summertime, local families flock to Cascade Bay, the state's largest outdoor municipal water park, or The Blast, a play area designed especially for toddlers.

For the parents, there's the city's "Market Fest." Every Wednesday during the summer and fall, this festival offers fresh produce, a selection of handcrafted artisan items from various vendors, and concerts. --J.S.

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Is Eagan a great town, or what?
Eagan stats
  City stats Best places avg.
Median family income
(per year)		 $103,834 $90,957
Job growth %
(2000-2009)*		 -2.57% 15.71%
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Median home price $162,596 $239,391
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Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)		 26.9% 22.9%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)		 37.3% 22.9%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 13 2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 263 24
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)		 3,305 2,967
High temp in July ° F 82.8° 86.2°
Low temp in Jan ° F 3.4° 21.3°
Median age 34.0 35.3
Financial City stats Best places avg.
Median family income
(per year)		 $103,834 $90,957
Family purchasing power
(annual, cost-of-living adjusted)		 $94,095 $86,860
State sales tax 6.88% 5.45%
State income tax rate
(highest bracket)		 7.85%I 7.35%
State income tax rate
(lowest bracket)		 5.35%I 2.96%
Auto insurance premiums
(Average price quotes, for the state)		 $1,672 $1,707
Job growth %
(2000-2009)*		 -2.57% 15.71%
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Housing
Median home price $162,596 $239,391
Average property taxes
(2009)		 $3,081 $3,418
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Education
Colleges, universities and
professional schools (within 30 miles)		 20 25
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)		 26.9% 22.9%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)		 37.3% 22.9%
% students attending public/private
schools (located within town limits)		 92.2/7.8 87.8/12.2
Quality of life
Air quality index*
(% of days AQI ranked as good)		 83.0% 77.8%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 13 2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 263 24
Median commute time (in minutes) 20.7 21.4
% population with commute
45 mins. or longer		 7.0% 13.6%
% population walk or bike to work 1.4% 3.6%
Leisure and culture
Movie theaters
(within 15 miles)		 56 31
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)		 3,305 2,967
Bars
(within 15 miles)		 257 207
Public golf courses
(within 30 miles)		 226 162
Libraries
(within 15 miles)		 105 72
Museums (accredited by AAM;
within 30 miles)		 5 10
Ski resorts (within 100 miles) 13 12
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts) 6.0 1.5
Weather
Annual rainfall
(inches)		 31.68 37.40
% clear days in the area 26 29
High temp in July ° F 82.8° 86.2°
Low temp in Jan ° F 3.4° 21.3°
Median age 34.0 35.3
Completed at least some college
(% of residents)		 81.1% 71.5%
Married % 60.3% 56.6%
Divorced % 9.3% 8.4%
Racial diversity index
(100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)		 72.4 94.9
From the August 2010 issue
Notes: *County data
(3) Crime incidences are estimates based on FBI 2008 Universal Crime and incidence reports, OnBoard analysis.

(I) Income tax notes:
16 states have statutory provision for automatic adjustment of tax brackets, personal exemption or standard deductions to the rate of inflation. Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska and Ohio index the personal exemption amounts only.
The tax brackets reported are for single individual. For married couples filing jointly, the same rates apply for income under $33,280 to over $132,221. A 6.4% AMT rate is also applicable.
These states allow personal exemption or standard deductions as provided in the IRC.
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Find Your Best Places
Region
Northeast South
Midwest West
Ranking
Top 100 winners only
Population
8.4M
46,000
Home Prices
2009 median sales prices
$1.2M
$36K
Video
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 cities for families. (Last year, we looked at small towns, with populations between 8,500 and 50,000.) More

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