LEXINGTON, Mass. — Many communities across Massachusetts were named in a new ranking of the top cities in the United States with populations of at least 25,000 people.
The personal-finance website WalletHub on Tuesday released its “2024 Best Small Cities in America” report, revealing which places “offer the best quality of life while remaining affordable.”
WalletHub says it compared more than 1,300 cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 across 45 key indicators of livability including housing costs, the quality of school systems, crime rate, the number of restaurants per capita, median household income, job growth, and average commute, among many others.
“Moving from a bustling metropolis to a small city could drastically cut down your cost of living. On top of that, the best small cities offer strong job markets, high-quality education, good health care, safe living conditions, and plenty of local flair to help you achieve a high quality of life,” WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo said in the report. “While small cities may lack some advantages of big cities, like robust public transportation systems, they make up for these shortcomings in other areas.”
Given the large sample of cities ranked in this study, WalletHub says it grouped cities by percentile with the 99th percentile representing the top one percent of small cities in America.
Lexington, Milton, Needham, and Arlington in Massachusetts all ranked among the top 20 small cities. Carmel, Indiana, was crowned the best small city in the nation.
The following Mass. communities had percentiles in the 90s:
- Lexington - 99 percentile
- Milton - 99 percentile
- Needham - 99 percentile
- Arlington - 98 percentile
- Newton - 98 percentile
- Melrose - 98 percentile
- Belmont - 97 percentile
- Reading - 96 percentile
- Randolph - 96 percentile
- Wakefield - 95 percentile
- Waltham - 94 percentile
- Somerville - 94 percentile
- Burlington - 93 percentile
- Medford - 92 percentile
- Brookline - 91 percentile
- Dedham - 91 percentile
- Salem - 90 percentile
- Wellesley - 90 percentile
The following Mass. communities had percentiles in the 80s:
- Danvers
- Woburn
- Malden
- Peabody
The following Mass. communities had percentiles in the 70s:
- Quincy
- Marlboro
- Beverly
- Saugus
- Framingham
- Norwood
- Gloucester
The following Mass. communities had percentiles in the 60s:
- Northampton
- Leominster
- Milford
- Attleboro
- Haverhill
- Revere
The following Mass. communities had percentiles in the 50s:
- Pittsfield
- Westfield
- Everett
- Fitchburg
The following Mass. communities had percentiles in the 40s:
- Taunton
- Brockton
The following Mass. communities had percentiles in the 30s:
- Lynn
- Lawrence
- New Bedford
The following Mass. communities had percentiles in the 20s:
- Chicopee
- Fall River
The following Mass. communities had percentiles in the teens and single digits:
- Chelsea
- Holyoke
For more on the study, click here.
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