Best Places to Live

Money's list of America's best small towns

Cleanest air

In these cities, the air quality is rated highly, and pollution levels are below the U.S. average.

Rank	City	Air quality index (% days AQI ranked good)	Air Pollution Index (100 is nat'l avg; lower is better)
1	Fredericksburg, VA	100.0%	83
2	Richmond, VA	100.0%	94
3	Marlton, NJ	100.0%	96
4	Medford, NJ	100.0%	96
5	Evesham, NJ	100.0%	96
6	Moorestown-Lenola, NJ	100.0%	97
7	Mount Laurel, NJ	100.0%	97
8	Moorestown, NJ	100.0%	98
9	Cinnaminson, NJ	100.0%	98
10	Lumberton, NJ	100.0%	99
11	Delran, NJ	100.0%	99
12	Elko, NV	100.0%	105
13	Findlay, OH	100.0%	176
14	San Anselmo, CA	99.0%	83
15	Mill Valley, CA	99.0%	84
16	Tamalpais-Homestead Valley, CA	99.0%	84
17	Larkspur, CA	99.0%	85
18	Corte Madera, CA	99.0%	85
19	Morton, IL	99.0%	86
20	Washington, IL	99.0%	86
21	East Peoria, IL	99.0%	86
22	Pekin, IL	99.0%	86
23	Tiburon, CA	99.0%	86
24	Anacortes, WA	99.0%	102
25	Billings, MT	99.0%	106

From the September 2011 issue

Source: AQI numbers from Environmental Protection Agency. Air Pollution Index is based on the incidence of airborne lead, NO2, particulate matter, carbon monoxide and ozone depletion.

Best Places Winners

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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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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