Best Places to Live

Money's list of America's best small towns

64 of 100

64. La Palma, CA

Vote for this town as fan favorite: Thanks for liking one of Money's Best Places to Live. Now take charge of your financial life: Like Money magazine on Facebook for analysis and advice you can trust. WINNER Top 100 rank: 64 Population: 15,700 Compare La Palma to Top 10 Best Places This diverse Orange County town is 10 miles from the beach and 20 miles from downtown Los Angeles, where many residents work. They can relax once they get home: La Palma has an exceedingly low crime rate. Another family-friendly amenity: all three of the town’s elementary schools offer free after-school fitness programs. Homes here are on the expensive side--median selling prices were over $500,000 in the spring of 2011--but that’s pretty standard for Orange County. --A.W. Subscribe to Money Magazine Fan Favorite Towns It's your turn to choose. Which town should be No. 1? Fan Favorite Foods Share your town's specialty and pick your top dish.

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WINNER

Top 100 rank: 64
Population: 15,700
Compare La Palma to Top 10 Best Places

This diverse Orange County town is 10 miles from the beach and 20 miles from downtown Los Angeles, where many residents work. They can relax once they get home: La Palma has an exceedingly low crime rate. Another family-friendly amenity: all three of the town’s elementary schools offer free after-school fitness programs. Homes here are on the expensive side--median selling prices were over $500,000 in the spring of 2011--but that’s pretty standard for Orange County. --A.W.

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La Palma stats

	City stats	Best places avg.
Median family income (per year)	$91,331	$99,975
Job growth % (2000-2010)*	-0.39%	24.63%
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Median home price	$521,000	$265,929
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Test scores reading (% above/below state average)	44.1%	25.1%
Test scores math (% above/below average)	23.2%	24.7%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000)	1	1
Property crime incidents (per 1,000)	13	16
Restaurants (within 15 miles)	9,522	2,758
High temp in July ° F	82.9°	84.1°
Low temp in Jan ° F	46.0°	20.9°
Median age	39.6	36.35

Financial	City stats	Best places avg.
Median family income (per year)	$91,331	$99,975
Family purchasing power (annual, cost-of-living adjusted)	$78,061	$95,706
State sales tax	8.25%	5.75%
State income tax rate (highest bracket)	9.30%^I	7.37%
State income tax rate (lowest bracket)	1.00%^I	3.13%
Auto insurance premiums (Average price quotes, for the state)	$1,644	$1,687
Job growth % (2000-2010)*	-0.39%	24.63%
See jobs near La Palma
Housing
Median home price	$521,000	$265,929
Average property taxes	N.A.	$4,083
See La Palma homes for sale
Education
Colleges, universities and professional schools (within 30 miles)	52	28
Test scores reading (% above/below state average)	44.1%	25.1%
Test scores math (% above/below average)	23.2%	24.7%
% students attending public/private schools (located within town limits)	99.2/0.8	92.1/7.9
Quality of life
Air quality index* (% of days AQI ranked as good)	70.0%	78.5%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000)	1	1
Property crime incidents (per 1,000)	13	16
Median commute time (in minutes)	26.8	23.3
% population with commute 45 mins. or longer	20.6%	15.4%
% population walk or bike to work	1.4%	2.6%
Leisure and culture
Movie theaters (within 15 miles)	55	30
Restaurants (within 15 miles)	9,522	2,758
Bars (within 15 miles)	419	208
Public golf courses (within 30 miles)	226	165
Libraries (within 15 miles)	139	74
Museums (accredited by AAM; within 30 miles)	16	10
Ski resorts (within 100 miles)	7	16
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts)	0.1	1.2
Weather
Annual rainfall (inches)	12.94	39.07
% clear days in the area	44	27
High temp in July ° F	82.9°	84.1°
Low temp in Jan ° F	46°	20.9°
Meet the neighbors
Median age	39.6	36.35
Completed at least some college (% of residents)	69.0%	74.5%
Married %	60.5%	61.5%
Divorced %	6.1%	7.6%
Racial diversity index (100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)	393.5	71.0

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From the September 2011 issue

Notes: *County data

(I) Income tax notes:
17 states have statutory provisions for automatically adjusting to the rate of inflation the dollar values of the income tax brackets, standard deductions, and/or personal exemptions. Massachusetts, Michigan, and Nebraska index the personal exemption only. Oregon does not index the income brackets for $125,000 and over. Because the inflation-adjustments for 2011 are not yet available in most cases, the table reports the 2010 amounts, unless 2011 is specified in a footnote.
For joint returns, taxes are twice the tax on half the couple's income.
The personal exemption takes the form of a tax credit instead of a deduction.
California imposes an additional 1% tax on taxable income over $1 million, making the maximum rate 10.3% over $1 million.

(II) Sales tax notes:
California and Virginia rates each include a 1% statewide "local" sales tax rate that localities can not amend.

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Fan Favorite Food

We asked readers to share their favorite hometown dishes. Now it’s time for you to choose: The most popular dish will be named Fan Favorite!

Hometown dish	Town
1. Low Cal Tex Mex	Seguin, TX
2. Chile Relleno	Seguin, TX
3. Super Bowl Breakfast	Jamestown, CA,
4. Texas BBQ	Luling, TX
5. Shrimp 'n Grits to die for!	Raleigh, NC

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Fan Favorite Towns

Money picked the top 100. Now it's your turn: Which town will be our fan favorite? 'Like' your town and it might just make it to No. 1.

Town	# of Likes
1. Saratoga Springs, NY	407
2. Glen Ellyn, IL	202
3. Castle Rock, CO	199
4. Mason, OH	181
5. Oswego, IL	172

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Find Your Best Places

How we picked the Best Places

Using statistics from data services company 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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Best Places to Live

Money's list of America's best small towns