These are the top affordable, small cities to live in the U.S.

We get it: you’re tired of all these “best cities” lists designed to get you to click to see if your city’s included. And if it’s not, or if it’s way down on the list, you feel slighted. And if it’s in the top 10, you feel validated. The lists usually cite some mild mathematical equation or loose methodology for having arrived at the ranking. But we love this Livability list of the Top 100 Best Places to Live in the U.S. for two reasons. For one thing, it only evaluates cities with a population between 75,000 and 500,000, so you’re not going to see the usual givens like NYC and L.A., nor will you be saddled with some tiny, remote State and Main town. The other reason is that the list focuses on affordability. If a city’s median home value is more than $500k, it falls off the list. Livability uses 100 data points across eight categories to create the ranking. The categories are economy (employment rates), housing and cost of living, transportation, environment (density, air quality), safety, education, health, and amenities like museums. If one of these categories is more important to you in determining where to travel and where to live, then you can sort via that category to sculpt the list to your wishes. Our listing below is the main one that just uses the overall “Liv score” the company came up with after it crunched all the data. So, with those parameters in place, are you ready to scroll down and see if your city’s included?

1. Johns Creek, GA
2. Flower Mound, TX
3. Carmel, IN
4. Broomfield, CO
5. Sugar Land, TX
6. Cary, NC
7. Overland Park, KS
8. Fishers, IN
9. Naperville, IL
10. Troy, MI
11. Roswell, GA
12. Clifton, NJ
13. Columbia, MD
14. Sandy, UT
15. Olathe, KS
16. Beaverton, OR
17. Gilbert, AZ
18. Bloomington, MN
19. Round Rock, TX
20. Rochester Hills, MI
21. Chandler, AZ
22. Warwick, RI
23. Evanston, IL
24. Cranston, RI
25. Pittsburgh, PA
26. Thornton, CO
27. Vancouver, WA
28. Lee’s Summit, MO
29. Hillsboro, OR
30. Jersey City, NJ
31. Tempe, AZ
32. Edmond, OK
33. Salt Lake City, UT
34. Virginia Beach, VA
35. Parma, OH
36. Minneapolis, MN
37. Hoover, AL
38. Meridian, ID
39. Omaha, NE
40. Franklin, TN
41. Orem, UT
42. Norwalk, CT
43. Bethlehem, PA
44. St. Petersburg, FL
45. Fort Collins, CO
46. Alafaya, FL
47. Fort Lauderdale, FL
48. Castle Rock, CO
49. Elk Grove, CA
50. Cedar Rapids, IA
51. Concord, NC
52. Spokane, WA
53. Lowell, MA
54. Broken Arrow, OK
55. Madison, WI
56. Lincoln, NE
57. Colorado Springs, CO
58. Louisville, KY
59. Boise, ID
60. Fargo, ND
61. Cheektowaga, NY
62. Metairie, LA
63. Rochester, MN
64. Nashua, NH
65. Ann Arbor, MI
66. Appleton, WI
67. Lexington, KY
68. Henderson, NV
69. St. Louis, MO
70. Bloomington, IL
71. Worcester, MA
72. Frederick, MD
73. Danbury, CT
74. Clovis, CA
75. Durham, NC
76. Charleston, SC
77. Asheville, NC
78. Lawrence, KS
79. Norman, OK
80. Fall River, MA
81. Cincinnati, OH
82. Manchester, NH
83. Tacoma, WA
84. Sioux Falls, SD
85. Eugene, OR
86. Rio Rancho, NM
87. Reno, NV
88. Davenport, IA
89. Des Moines, IA
90. Midland, TX
91. Winston-Salem, NC
92. Orlando, FL
93. Amarillo, TX
94. Iowa City, IA
95. Peoria, IL
96. Provo, UT
97. Knoxville, TN
98. Wichita, KS
99. Missoula, MT
100. Fayetteville, AR