In Highland Heights, it’s safety first: The town has one of the lowest property crime rates in the country. A newly renovated community park and pool are available to all residents. Only 10 miles east of Cleveland, Highland Heights attracts mostly families whose breadwinners work in the city, although a number of people work at the local Philips Medical Systems office. Residents’ children attend the well-regarded Mayfield School District. --D.B.
Notes:
*County data
(1) Median based on fewer than 100 home sales in the area.
(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. Ohio provides an additional tax credit of $20 per exemption. 2011 tax rates and brackets reported.
(II) Sales tax notes:
Ohio has a 0.26% commercial activity tax (CAT) that is levied in addition to its 5.5% sales tax. Firms with receipts over $1 million pay the CAT; firms with receipts between $150K and $1 million pay a minimum tax of $150.
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.)
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