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We’ve already established that people living in small towns are more likely to see ghosts, so now we want to narrow the search for you Halloweenites by finding the best small towns in the US. Good timing: the personal finance website WalletHub just released its report on this year’s best small cities in America.
Small cities are often more affordable than more booming metropolises and provide more open space (read: backyards) for residents. Although we’ll always love big cities, small ones have their benefits too. The study looked at more than 1,300 cities where the population ranges from 25,000 to 100,000 and crunched statistics on 43 different data points of ‘livability,’ grouped into five categories: affordability, economic health, education & health, quality of life and safety. Those involved things like homeownership rates, share of population living in poverty, percentage of residents who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, restaurants and bar per capita and violent crime rate.
And after all the numbers were tallied up, the number one small city in America was found to be... (drum roll)… Lancaster, Pennsylvania! Situated on the Susquehanna River and part of Pennsylvania Dutch country, Lancaster is committed to affordable housing, hosts an annual hot air balloon festival, and is small enough to include sunflower farms.
In second place is Carmel, Indiana, just north of Indianapolis, known as the Roundabout Capital of the US (we prefer a stop light, but okay). Many magazines have named it the best place to live, citing safety and quality of life.
In third place is Fair Lawn, New Jersey. Just 12 miles from New York City, this suburban borough boasts many restaurants, cafes and parks to enjoy a quieter lifestyle.
A few interesting tidbits arise out of this study. For instance, Los Altos, California has the highest median annual household income ($240,094), as compared to Isla Vista, California whose income level of $21,018 is the lowest in the US. In two small cities in Colorado, Castle Rock and Parker, 99.1 percent of adults are in good health, the highest in the nation, while in Eagle Pass, Texas, only 63.1 percent are, constituting the lowest rates in the US.
What’s great is that in the top 20, you’ll find cities in all regions of the country: east, west, north, south and midwest.
The full list of many cities is here, but here is the rest of the top 20:
4. Lexington, MA
5. Brentwood, TN
6. Melrose, MA
7. Zionsville, IN
8. Needham, MA
9. Portland, ME
10. Westfield, IN
11. Milton, MA
12. Sammamish, WA
13. Dublin, OH
14. Brookfield, WI
15. Leawood, KS
16. Apex, NC
17. Arlington, MA
18. Burlington, MA
19. Newton, MA
20. Princeton, NJ