Best Places to Live

Money's list of America's best small towns

84 of 100

84. Columbus, NE

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: 84 Population: 21,800 Compare Columbus to Top 10 Best Places If it’s a job you’re looking for, you’ll find it in Columbus, 90 minutes away from Lincoln and Omaha. This manufacturing and agriculture-driven community, which has a super-low unemployment rate, is also building up its medical industry. Major employers in the area include biomedical company BD and steel fabricator Behlen. This safe town, where kids walk and bike to school, has plans for a new library and cultural arts center, as well as a revitalization project for its tree-lined downtown. --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.

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: 84
Population: 21,800
Compare Columbus to Top 10 Best Places

If it’s a job you’re looking for, you’ll find it in Columbus, 90 minutes away from Lincoln and Omaha. This manufacturing and agriculture-driven community, which has a super-low unemployment rate, is also building up its medical industry. Major employers in the area include biomedical company BD and steel fabricator Behlen. This safe town, where kids walk and bike to school, has plans for a new library and cultural arts center, as well as a revitalization project for its tree-lined downtown. --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.

Is Columbus a great town, or what?

Columbus stats

	City stats	Best places avg.
Median family income (per year)	$62,278	$99,975
Job growth % (2000-2010)*	10.00%	24.63%
See jobs near Columbus
Median home price	N.A.	$265,929
See Columbus homes for sale
Test scores reading (% above/below state average)	-10.9%	25.1%
Test scores math (% above/below average)	-5.1%	24.7%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000)	1	1
Property crime incidents (per 1,000)	19	16
Restaurants (within 15 miles)	65	2,758
High temp in July ° F	87.9°	84.1°
Low temp in Jan ° F	11.9°	20.9°
Median age	39.1	36.35

Financial	City stats	Best places avg.
Median family income (per year)	$62,278	$99,975
Family purchasing power (annual, cost-of-living adjusted)	$70,610	$95,706
State sales tax	5.50%	5.75%
State income tax rate (highest bracket)	6.84%^I	7.37%
State income tax rate (lowest bracket)	2.56%^I	3.13%
Auto insurance premiums (Average price quotes, for the state)	$1,438	$1,687
Job growth % (2000-2010)*	10.00%	24.63%
See jobs near Columbus
Housing
Median home price	N.A.	$265,929
Average property taxes	N.A.	$4,083
See Columbus homes for sale
Education
Colleges, universities and professional schools (within 30 miles)	N.A.	28
Test scores reading (% above/below state average)	-10.9%	25.1%
Test scores math (% above/below average)	-5.1%	24.7%
% students attending public/private schools (located within town limits)	74.8/25.2	92.1/7.9
Quality of life
Air quality index* (% of days AQI ranked as good)	N.A.	78.5%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000)	1	1
Property crime incidents (per 1,000)	19	16
Median commute time (in minutes)	10.4	23.3
% population with commute 45 mins. or longer	4.1%	15.4%
% population walk or bike to work	2.5%	2.6%
Leisure and culture
Movie theaters (within 15 miles)	1	30
Restaurants (within 15 miles)	65	2,758
Bars (within 15 miles)	26	208
Public golf courses (within 30 miles)	12	165
Libraries (within 15 miles)	7	74
Museums (accredited by AAM; within 30 miles)	0	10
Ski resorts (within 100 miles)	3	16
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts)	0.8	1.2
Weather
Annual rainfall (inches)	28.49	39.07
% clear days in the area	32	27
High temp in July ° F	87.9°	84.1°
Low temp in Jan ° F	11.9°	20.9°
Meet the neighbors
Median age	39.1	36.35
Completed at least some college (% of residents)	53.9%	74.5%
Married %	58.4%	61.5%
Divorced %	7.3%	7.6%
Racial diversity index (100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)	19.7	71.0

See all

More financial, housing, school, quality of life stats

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.

Top companies | Home deals | More

Galleries and more

Best home deals

Itching to move to one of these top 10 towns? You might score a real-estate bargain, too.
See them all
Helping transplant patients

Neighbors pitch in to help create the Restoring Hope Transplant House in Middleton, WI, no. 8 on Best Places.
Watch
Big-money towns

Great Falls, Va., residents pull in more than $350,000 a year. Which other places have high incomes?
See them all
Fun festivals

You'll see double in Twinsburg, Ohio. Ketchup lovers beware in Middleton, WI. See unique town festivals.
Watch
Rich and single

Looking for Mr. or Ms. Moneybags? These wealthy cities are brimming with unattached professionals.
See them all
Why kids love Leesburg

Children show and tell what they love most about life in this Virginia town, no. 4 on the Best Places list.
Watch
Where the jobs are

These 25 counties have experienced the most job growth over the last nine years.
See them all
A backyard business with buzz

The Rzpekas became beekeepers by accident. But it inspired Beecology, their thriving bath and beauty firm.
Watch
Where homes are affordable

Residents who buy real estate in these 25 growing towns see their incomes go the furthest.
See them all
70+ years in one town

78-year-old Ron Roeser still lives next door to the home where he grew up in Chanhassen, MN.
Watch
Best Places Jeopardy!

TV's Jeopardy! will feature a category of Best Places clues. Try the online version’s questions.
Play the game!

Homes for sale
See all Columbus homes for sale
- City, state, or zip
- Price range
  to

Property type

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

See the rest

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

See the rest

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

Comments? E-mail the editors

Symbol Matches

Symbol Starts With

Company Matches

Best Places to Live

Money's list of America's best small towns