Money's list of America's best small cities


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49. Blue Springs, MO
Blue Springs
WINNER
Top 100 rank: 49
Population: 56,000
Compare Blue Springs to Top 10 Best Places
Located less than 30 minutes from Kansas City, this bedroom community has a lot going for it. First-time home buyers will be attracted to the city's affordable housing and low property taxes.

Families with school-age children will be excited to learn that Blue Springs students have some of the highest math and reading scores in the state.

And if you have a background in education or research, job hunting shouldn't be too difficult: the University of Missouri has opened a research center in the area. --J.S.

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Is Blue Springs a great town, or what?
Blue Springs stats
  City stats Best places avg.
Median family income
(per year)		 $77,859 $90,957
Job growth %
(2000-2009)*		 -3.15% 15.71%
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Median home price $127,203 $239,391
See Blue Springs homes for sale
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)		 58.1% 22.9%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)		 83.9% 22.9%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 2 2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 35 24
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)		 1,267 2,967
High temp in July ° F 88.6° 86.2°
Low temp in Jan ° F 17.9° 21.3°
Median age 35.1 35.3
Financial City stats Best places avg.
Median family income
(per year)		 $77,859 $90,957
Family purchasing power
(annual, cost-of-living adjusted)		 $80,433 $86,860
State sales tax 4.22% 5.45%
State income tax rate
(highest bracket)		 6.00%I 7.35%
State income tax rate
(lowest bracket)		 1.50%I 2.96%
Auto insurance premiums
(Average price quotes, for the state)		 $1,574 $1,707
Job growth %
(2000-2009)*		 -3.15% 15.71%
See jobs near Blue Springs
Housing
Median home price $127,203 $239,391
Average property taxes N.A. $3,418
See Blue Springs homes for sale
Education
Colleges, universities and
professional schools (within 30 miles)		 16 25
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)		 58.1% 22.9%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)		 83.9% 22.9%
% students attending public/private
schools (located within town limits)		 96.2/3.8 87.8/12.2
Quality of life
Air quality index*
(% of days AQI ranked as good)		 76.0% 77.8%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 2 2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 35 24
Median commute time (in minutes) 25.9 21.4
% population with commute
45 mins. or longer		 13.9% 13.6%
% population walk or bike to work 1.1% 3.6%
Leisure and culture
Movie theaters
(within 15 miles)		 24 31
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)		 1,267 2,967
Bars
(within 15 miles)		 181 207
Public golf courses
(within 30 miles)		 101 162
Libraries
(within 15 miles)		 40 72
Museums (accredited by AAM;
within 30 miles)		 1 10
Ski resorts (within 100 miles) 1 12
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts) 2.4 1.5
Weather
Annual rainfall
(inches)		 39.75 37.40
% clear days in the area 33 29
High temp in July ° F 88.6° 86.2°
Low temp in Jan ° F 17.9° 21.3°
Median age 35.1 35.3
Completed at least some college
(% of residents)		 63.5% 71.5%
Married % 61.4% 56.6%
Divorced % 10.3% 8.4%
Racial diversity index
(100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)		 26.8 94.9
From the August 2010 issue
Notes: *County data

(I) Income tax notes:
Deduction is limited to $10,000 for joint returns and $5,000 for individuals in Missouri and Montana, and to $5,600 in Oregon.
  • Homes for sale
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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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