The Best Places to Live

The best places to live
Good schools, low crime, pretty views. See the No. 1 U.S. city.

Rank / City / Population


1 Fort Collins, CO 128,000
2 Naperville, IL 141,600
3 Sugar Land, TX 75,800
4 Columbia/Ellicott City, MD 159,200
5 Cary, NC 106,400
6 Overland Park, KS 164,800
7 Scottsdale, AZ 226,000
8 Boise, ID 193,200
9 Fairfield, CT 57,800
10 Eden Prairie, MN 60,600
11 Plano, TX 250,100
12 Eagan, MN 63,700
13 Olathe, KS 112,100
14 West Bloomfield , MI 65,000
15 Richardson, TX 99,200
16 Gilbert, AZ 178,100
17 Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ 51,600
18 Santa Clarita, CA 172,500
19 Carrollton, TX 124,700
20 Henderson, NV 232,100
21 Bellevue, WA 117,100
22 Newton, MA 83,200
23 Sandy, UT 89,700
24 Westminster, CO 105,100
25 Ann Arbor, MI 113,300
26 Rockville, MD 57,400
27 Coral Springs, FL 128,800
28 Edison, NJ 100,500
29 Farmington Hills, MI 80,200
30 Boca Raton, FL 86,600
31 Livermore, CA 78,400
32 Wayne, NJ 55,200
33 Fishers, IN 57,200
34 Folsom, CA 65,600
35 Simi Valley, CA 118,700
36 Waukesha, WI 67,700
37 Sterling Heights, MI 128,000
38 Orem, UT 89,700
39 O'Fallon, MO 69,700
40 Norman, OK 101,700
41 Layton, UT 61,800
42 Rancho Cucamonga, CA 149,200
43 Reston, VA 60,000
44 Lee's Summit, MO 80,300
45 Orland Park, IL 55,500
46 Stamford, CT 121,100
47 Cherry Hill, NJ 71,800
48 Round Rock, TX 86,300
49 Ramapo, NY 112,500
50 Middletown, NJ 67,800
51 Pembroke Pines, FL 151,700
52 Edmond, OK 74,900
53 Madison, WI 221,600
54 Blaine, MN 54,100
55 Aurora, IL 168,200
56 Rio Rancho, NM 66,600
57 Appleton, WI 70,200
58 Denton, TX 104,200
59 Chesapeake, VA 219,000
60 Lincoln, NE 239,200
61 Longmont, CO 81,800
62 North Richland Hills, TX 61,100
63 Hillsboro, OR 84,500
64 Cedar Rapids, IA 123,100
65 League City, TX 61,500
66 Broken Arrow, OK 86,200
67 Rochester, MN 95,000
68 Mentor, OH 51,500
69 Fargo, ND 90,700
70 Mount Pleasant, SC 57,900
71 West Des Moines, IA 52,800
72 Santa Fe, NM 64,200
73 The Woodlands, TX 67,600
74 Iowa City, IA 62,900
75 Hoover, AL 67,500
76 Columbia, MO 91,800
77 Bismarck, ND 57,400
78 Cranston, RI 81,600
79 Beaverton, OR 85,800
80 Bloomington, IL 69,700
81 Miramar, FL 106,600
82 Warren, MI 138,000
83 Warwick, RI 87,200
84 Murfreesboro, TN 86,800
85 Oshkosh, WI 63,500
86 Bend, OR 67,200
87 Nashua, NH 87,300
88 Bethlehem, PA 73,100
89 Portland, ME 63,900
90 Fayetteville, AR 66,700