Money's list of America's best small towns


Fastest job growth
Here are the counties with the highest percentage job growth (2000-2010).
Rank County Towns include Job growth % 2000-2010
1 Rockwall County, TX Heath, Rockwall 97.90%
2 Loudoun County, VA Leesburg 75.29%
3 Williamson County, TX Brushy Creek, Georgetown, Round Rock 68.10%
4 Douglas County, CO Castle Rock, Lone Tree, Parker, Stonegate 64.52%
5 Hamilton County, IN Noblesville, Westfield 50.80%
6 Delaware County, OH Delaware, Powell 49.17%
7 DeSoto County, MS Hernando, Olive Branch, Southaven 48.24%
8 Utah County, UT American Fork, Lindon, Provo 47.08%
9 Ascension Parish, LA Gonzales 46.62%
10 Campbell County, WY Gillette 43.87%
11 Livingston Parish, LA Denham Springs 42.85%
12 Larimer County, CO Windsor 41.20%
13 Prince William County, VA Linton Hall, Montclair 40.10%
14 Rutherford County, TN La Vergne, Murfreesboro, Smyrna 37.38%
15 Wake County, NC Apex, Garner, Holly Springs, Knightdale, Raleigh, Wake Forest 35.89%
16 Williamson County, TN Brentwood 34.95%
17 Sarpy County, NE Chalco, Papillion 33.93%
18 Shelby County, AL Alabaster, Pelham 32.57%
19 Carver County, MN Chanhassen, Chaska, Waconia 32.42%
20 Hendricks County, IN Avon, Brownsburg, Danville, Plainfield 30.98%
21 Charleston County, SC Charleston 30.50%
22 Cache County, UT North Logan 29.53%
23 Madison County, MS Madison, Ridgeland 29.42%
24 Canadian County, OK Yukon 27.15%
25 St. Croix County, WI Hudson, New Richmond 26.69%
From the September 2011 issue
Source: Census data, Onboard Informatics projection. Only counties where each Best Place within it was also experiencing job and population growth, and where unemployment was below the national average, were considered. No more than 2 places within a state could qualify.
Best Places Winners
MAPS
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
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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