Three small Bay State cities among best in nation, report finds

With almost half of the population saying that they'd prefer to live in a suburban area, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2025's Best Small Cities in America.

To help Americans put down roots in places offering good quality of life and affordability, WalletHub compared more than 1,300 U.S. cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 across 45 key indicators of livability. They range from housing costs and school-system quality to restaurants per capita and the crime rate.

Best vs. Worst

• Los Altos, California and McLean, Virginia, are among the cities which have the highest median annual household income, which is 10.2 times higher than in Isla Vista, California, the city with the lowest.
  
• Southlake, Texas, has the lowest share of the population living in poverty, which is 34.7 times lower than in Isla Vista, California, the city with the highest.
  
• Isla Vista, California, has the fewest average hours worked per week, which is 1.8 times fewer than in Fort Hood, Texas, the city with the most.
  
• Woodbury, Cottage Grove and Oakdale, Minnesota, have the lowest share of adults in fair or poor health, which is four times lower than in Harlingen, Texas, which is the city with the highest.

To view the full report and your city's rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-small-cities-to-live-in/16581