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The 10 best places to raise a family
By Venessa Wong and Joel Stonington of Bloomberg Businessweek
No matter how hard you try, raising a family is complicated, not to mention expensive. For parents juggling concerns about their children’s safety, schools, expenses and after-school activities — and who also need to go to work on top of all this — living in the right place won’t solve all problems, but it can offer their children more opportunities and enhance the family’s lifestyle. In our fifth annual ranking of best places to raise kids, Bloomberg and Businessweek.com shifted the focus from large, urbanized places to smaller towns and cities.
Using 2010 data from Onboard Informatics, a real-estate information and technology company in New York, we evaluated 5,418 locations nationwide with populations larger than the state median but no larger than 50,000. We considered only locations where the median income is within 20% of the state’s median. The rankings put the most weight on school performance and the number of schools, crime statistics and cost of living. Other factors included job growth, air quality, ethnic diversity and access to recreational amenities within the county, such as parks, zoos, theaters and museums.
The following places we selected are neither rich suburbs nor havens for luxury living, so don’t expect to find mansions and elite country clubs — although some areas will have them. Rather, these are communities that are inhabited mostly by middle-income earners and that have good public schools, low crime and resources to keep the family entertained on weekends.
Read: America's best, affordable places to raise kids
View the full list of the 50 best places to raise your family on BusinessWeek.com.
Jennifer Prince, rankings analyst for Bloomberg, helped to compile this ranking.
Note: All data are 2010 estimates provided by Onboard Informatics, the premier data company in the residential real-estate market and a leading innovator of lifestyle search. Data sources include the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the IRS, the FBI and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The 10 best places to raise a family
1. Niles, Ill.
Nearby city: Chicago
Population: 29,207
Median family income: $73,532
Runner-up: Bensenville
The Leaning Tower of Niles, a half-size replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, is among the landmarks in this Chicago suburb. The advantages of living in Niles include public transit — there's free bus service within in the village — 20 parks and several shopping centers, according to the Niles Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Niles has a number of public and private schools that perform above the state average.
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The 10 best places to raise a family
2. North College Hill, Ohio
Nearby city: Cincinnati
Population: 9,778
Median family income: $57,399
Runner-up: St. Henry
Carved out of Clovernook Farm, three subdivisions — Clovernook, Meyerville and Sunshine — combined in 1916 to form the village of North College Hill. Incorporated as a town in 1980, North College Hill is now a suburb 10 miles north of Cincinnati and known as "The Center of It All."
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The 10 best places to raise a family
3. Centerville, Ind.
Nearby city: Indianapolis
Population: 2,067
Median family income: $55,092
Runner-up: Berne
Antique shopping is one of the attractions in Centerville, a quiet community 65 miles from Indianapolis on Indiana’s Antique Alley. The area is served by the Centerville-Abington Community School Corp., which has two elementary schools, one junior high school and a high school. "The population represents an average to above-average socioeconomic status with a family-oriented value system," reads the administration’s website. Nearby colleges include Earlham College and Indiana University East.
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The 10 best places to raise a family
4. Clinton, Tenn.
Nearby city: Knoxville
Population: 9,224
Median family income: $55,421
Runner-up: Hohenwald
Clinton is the county seat of Anderson County and is part of the Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is on the Clinch River, where plans are in place to develop the waterfront into recreational space, with hiking and bike trails. At Anderson County High School, one of three in the area, 54% of the students posted advanced scores in Criterion Reference Test results, beating the state average of 41%.
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View the full list of the 50 best places to raise your family on BusinessWeek.com.
The 10 best places to raise a family
5. Rowland Heights, Calif.
Nearby city: Los Angeles
Population: 46,793
Median family income: $72,985
Runner-up: Temple City
In San Gabriel Valley, about 25 miles from downtown Los Angeles, Rowland Heights is home to a large Asian community. The area has several highly regarded schools, including the John A. Rowland High School and Killian Elementary School. "Rowland Heights is … close enough to Los Angeles and all the excitement of big-city life, but [Rowland Heights] benefits from an influx of residents looking for a subdued setting," states the website of real-estate agent Vincent Gottuso.
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The 10 best places to raise a family
6. Ridgefield Park, N.J.
Nearby city: New York
Population: 10,675
Median family income: $84,544
Runner-up: Bergenfield
Across the Hudson and a few towns west of the northern reaches of Manhattan, the Village of Ridgefield Park is a suburb with good schools and one of the longest-running Fourth of July parades in the country. The community also pulls together around a true Main Street with such events as the annual holiday display contest. Houses have yards, and kids have plenty to do with a town pool and numerous parks.
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The 10 best places to raise a family
7. Kensington, Conn.
Nearby city: Hartford
Population: 8,479
Median family income: $90,189
Runner-up: Portland
Kensington, a city about 14 miles south of Hartford, belongs to the Berlin School District, which has two public elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. Several parks, golf courses and country clubs are in the area. Kensington residents can commute via Amtrak, which has a station in the town. For rush-hour commuters to midtown Manhattan, Penn Station can be reached via shuttle, which takes just over 30 minutes.
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The 10 best places to raise a family
8. Varnell, Ga.
Nearby city: Chattanooga, Tenn.
Population: 1,480
Median family income: $69,404
Runner-up: Leesburg
While Varnell is only 2.5 square miles, it offers parks and trails and is minutes from the Nob North Golf Course. It is part of the Whitfield County School District, which includes Varnell Elementary School, New Hope Elementary School, New Hope Middle School and Northwest Whitfield High School, according to the town's website. Varnell’s Prater's Mill Country Fair draws many visitors in the fall.
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The 10 best places to raise a family
9. Spring Arbor, Mich.
Nearby city: Jackson
Population: 2,332
Median family income: $71,249
Runner-up: Marysville
A tiny university town in the midst of Michigan farmland, it is home to the main campus of Spring Arbor University, a liberal-arts school with more than 2,000 students. The town maintains a rural feel and plenty of parks to play in, such as Lime Lake, where residents swim and fish in the summer. For golfers, there is the public Arbor Hills Golf Club, a formerly private course designed in 1925.
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The 10 best places to raise a family
10. Tilden, Neb.
Nearby city: Norfolk
Population: 830
Median family income: $51,841
Runner-up: Springfield
A sleepy community in the northeastern section of Nebraska, Tilden is a classic American small town. The Tilden Community Park has soccer and baseball fields. There are a library and a 20-bed hospital. And just one mile north of town is the Elkhorn River, with excellent fishing for catfish and views of the river from the scenic Yellowbanks Wildlife Area.
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Read: America's best, affordable places to raise kids
View the full list of the 50 best places to raise your family on BusinessWeek.com.
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