Money's list of America's best small towns


States
Top 100
Rank City Population
49 Carol Stream 40,259
54 Glen Ellyn 27,088
58 Oswego 26,074
98 South Elgin 22,324
Other cities
  Addison 35,829
  Algonquin 32,077
  Aurora 176,056
  Bartlett 41,118
  Batavia 28,291
  Bensenville 18,052
  Bloomingdale 22,461
  Bourbonnais 18,376
  Bridgeview 15,702
  Brookfield 17,976
  Buffalo Grove 45,216
  Burbank 27,146
  Burr Ridge 11,975
  Cary 18,083
  Channahon 10,867
  Chatham 11,306
  Chicago 2,843,864
  Chicago Ridge 14,355
  Collinsville 25,344
  Columbia 9,341
  Country Club Hills 17,547
  Crest Hill 19,017
  Crestwood 11,843
  Crete 8,568
  Crystal Lake 43,806
  Darien 23,712
  Deerfield 18,658
  Dixon 15,051
  Downers Grove 49,960
  East Peoria 22,795
  Edwardsville 25,784
  Effingham 12,377
  Elgin 107,195
  Elk Grove Village 34,160
  Elmhurst 42,553
  Evergreen Park 19,680
  Flossmoor 9,325
  Forest Park 14,866
  Fox Lake 10,180
  Frankfort 17,594
  Gages Lake 10,616
  Geneva 25,837
  Glen Carbon 12,956
  Glencoe 8,881
  Glendale Heights 32,252
  Glenview 47,571
  Glenwood 8,873
  Godfrey 16,617
  Grayslake 22,291
  Gurnee 30,962
  Hickory Hills 13,467
  Highland 9,125
  Highland Park 32,550
  Hinsdale 17,400
  Homewood 19,084
  Huntley 15,668
  Joliet 142,455
  La Grange 15,670
  La Grange Park 12,757
  Lake Forest 20,315
  Lake in the Hills 35,138
  Lake Zurich 20,062
  Lemont 13,885
  Libertyville 23,026
  Lincolnwood 12,053
  Lindenhurst 14,157
  Lisle 23,527
  Lombard 44,674
  Loves Park 23,524
  McHenry 26,958
  Mokena 20,584
  Morris 13,973
  Morton 15,380
  Morton Grove 23,464
  Mundelein 33,502
  Naperville 151,546
  New Lenox 25,295
  Niles 29,273
  Norridge 14,240
  North Aurora 13,928
  Northbrook 33,467
  Northlake 11,461
  O'Fallon 25,945
  Oak Forest 28,861
  Ottawa 18,633
  Palos Heights 11,841
  Palos Hills 17,975
  Park Ridge 37,668
  Pekin 33,902
  Peoria 115,176
  Peru 9,994
  Plainfield 32,003
  Prospect Heights 15,684
  River Forest 12,820
  Riverside 8,556
  Rockford 153,299
  Rolling Meadows 24,824
  Romeoville 28,141
  Roscoe 9,515
  Roselle 24,337
  Shorewood 16,976
  South Holland 21,963
  Springfield 113,136
  St. Charles 33,015
  Streamwood 38,043
  Sugar Grove 8,592
  Swansea 12,147
  Sycamore 13,701
  Troy 9,874
  Vernon Hills 22,794
  Villa Park 22,201
  Warrenville 13,944
  Washington 13,301
  Waterloo 9,657
  Wauconda 14,818
  West Chicago 25,968
  Westchester 16,023
  Western Springs 12,395
  Westmont 24,307
  Wheeling 35,786
  Willowbrook 8,924
  Wilmette 27,115
  Winfield 9,602
  Winnetka 12,234
  Wood Dale 13,857
  Woodridge 33,922
  Woodstock 23,814
  Yorkville 15,793
From the September 2011 issue
Best Places Winners
Pick a state

Alabama 1
Alaska 0
Arizona 0
Arkansas 0
California 3
Colorado 5
Connecticut 5
Delaware 0
District of Columbia 0
Florida 2
Georgia 1
Hawaii 0
Idaho 0
Illinois 4
Indiana 4
Iowa 5
Kansas 1
Kentucky 0
Louisiana 0
Maine 0
Maryland 3
Massachusetts 5
Michigan 0
Minnesota 5
Mississippi 2
Missouri 4
Montana 0
Nebraska 2
Nevada 0
New Hampshire 3
New Jersey 5
New Mexico 0
New York 5
North Carolina 0
North Dakota 0
Ohio 5
Oklahoma 0
Oregon 2
Pennsylvania 5
Rhode Island 0
South Carolina 0
South Dakota 0
Tennessee 0
Texas 5
Utah 5
Vermont 0
Virginia 5
Washington 3
West Virginia 0
Wisconsin 5
Wyoming 0
Home price trends
Hover over any of the 10 Best Places below to see how real estate prices have changed in the past year.
City Avg. listing price
(July 2011)
1. Louisville, CO $383,569
2. Milton, MA $577,008
3. Solon, OH $291,162
4. Leesburg, VA $486,018
5. Papillion, NE $218,520
6. Hanover, NH $643,500
7. Liberty, MO $177,678
8. Middleton, WI $347,770
9. Mukilteo, WA $345,487
10. Chanhassen, MN $418,607

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Find Your Best Places
Region
Northeast South
Midwest West
Ranking
Top 100 winners only
Population
8.4M
8,500
Home Prices
2010 median sales prices
$2.3M
$42K
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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