Best Places to Live

We all have different criteria for choosing the "best" place to live. Maybe your best place is a large city with plenty of nightlife, or small-town America where everyone in town knows each other–or something in-between. No matter what you're looking for, there's probably an online or print publication that has done some research to help you find it. Here's a look at some of this years reports:

Money Magazine's Hottest Towns

East Rank City Population Increase from 1990 Median household income Median home price Eastern region, over 100,000 population 1 Cary, NC 104,210 118% $77,091 $207,000 2 Ramapo, NY 112,684 20% $64,954 $330,875 3 Coral Springs, FL 128,715 68% $62,632 $218,500 4 Alexandria, VA 131,918 19% $59,976 $290,000 5 Sully District, VA 152,169 63% $92,942 $290,000 6 Chesapeake, VA 209,986 38% $53,758 $150,000 7 Hunter Mill district, VA 115,428 27% $93,987 $290,000 8 Dranesville district, VA 110,480 19% $109,502 $290,000 Eastern region, under 100,000 population 1 Sugarland Run district, VA 29,115 178% $103,350 $278,250 2 Manalapan, NJ 34,018 27% $91,245 $410,000 3 Centreville, VA 50,347 91% $77,243 $250,000 4 Randolph, NJ 25,643 28% $104,121 $444,500 5 North Andover, MA 27,725 22% $79,169 $342,500 6 Franconia, VA 33,321 71% $84,537 $290,000 7 Wellington, FL 41,993 86% $76,076 $230,000 8 Collierville, TN 31,817 104% $85,716 $230,000 9 Brentwood, TN 26,308 69% $107,866 $338,250 10 Chantilly, VA 43,134 49% $94,864 $320,000 11 Oakton, VA 30,720 27% $90,824 $341,000 12 Dunwoody, GA 34,151 30% $86,971 $315,000 13 Gaithersburg, MD 57,089 42% $64,944 $220,000 14 Marlboro, NJ 37,875 35% $108,759 $379,975 15 Bridgewater, NJ 45,602 40% $93,484 $316,000 16 Newtown, CT 25,407 22% $97,723 $358,500 17 Peachtree City, GA 33,745 74% $79,805 $214,500 18 Ellicott City, MD 60,181 45% $83,583 $248,000 19 Roswell, GA 78,864 38% $76,530 $226,450 20 Hoover, AL 64,553 54% $64,431 $170,450 21 Bernards, NJ 26,355 53% $112,435 $279,900 22 Matoaca district, VA 70,562 69% $65,149 $135,000 23 Olney, MD 33,174 26% $100,716 $287,450 24 Reston, VA 58,255 21% $85,264 $240,000 25 Columbia, MD 93,794 23% $77,033 $199,000 26 Lower Makefield, PA 33,836 35% $102,997 $205,000

Central Rank City Population Increase from 1990 Median household income Median home price Central region, over 100,000 population 1 Naperville, IL 139,654 56% $94,687 $260,000 2 Lawrence, IN 113,967 21% $52,023 $160,930 3 Overland Park, KS 160,253 42% $66,674 $191,520 4 Olathe, KS 102,617 59% $65,111 $175,560 Central region, under 100,000 population 1 Woodbury, MN 50,701 153% $81,592 $219,000 2 Dublin, OH 33,480 92% $96,828 $355,100 3 Wildwood, MO 33,396 96% $100,278 $320,000 4 Libertyville, IL 52,147 23% $79,360 $350,000 5 Chesterfield, MO 55,768 60% $96,013 $333,000 6 Eden Prairie, MN 55,602 41% $82,730 $292,500 7 Fremont, IL 25,254 77% $81,290 $210,000 8 Leawood, KS 29,864 53% $102,106 $307,230 9 Plymouth, MN 66,476 31% $82,129 $275,000 10 Bartlett, IL 37,372 74% $84,580 $195,500 11 Carmel, IN 44,103 60% $87,251 $196,900 12 Maple Grove, MN 51,824 34% $81,512 $224,000 13 West Bloomfield, MI 66,237 21% $96,880 $276,500 14 Granger, IN 29,310 46% $85,896 $145,595 15 Ela, IL 43,704 35% $106,099 $210,000 16 West Chester Twp., OH 56,804 43% $76,373 $131,000 17 Buffalo Grove, IL 44,294 20% $86,525 $174,750 18 Plymouth Township, MI 28,375 20% $78,740 $100,000

West Rank City Population Increase from 1990 Median household income Median home price Western region, over 100,000 population 1 Plano, TX 271,090 113% $82,857 $191,520 2 Anaheim, CA 343,855 29% $52,196 $340,000 3 Scottsdale, AZ 223,181 70% $59,596 $263,500 4 Santa Rosa, CA 152,450 24% $54,537 $349,500 5 Irvine, CA 150,450 32% $77,662 $430,000 6 Orange, CA 134,506 22% $63,451 $385,000 7 Santa Clarita, CA 159,446 43% $70,342 $305,000 8 Thousand Oaks, CA 123,752 19% $81,576 $445,000 9 Fremont, CA 209,304 23% $81,318 $425,000 10 Simi Valley, CA 120,358 20% $76,445 $352,000 11 Westminster, CO 106,870 41% $60,552 $194,500 12 Richardson, TX 100,544 32% $66,914 $228,361 13 Anchorage, AK 272,830 21% $59,548 $190,152 Western region, under 100,000 population 1 Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 49,898 205% $84,159 $350,000 2 Flower Mound, TX 61,579 277% $99,516 $210,672 3 San Clemente, CA 52,969 28% $68,799 $555,000 4 Tustin, CA 70,551 42% $60,250 $391,000 5 Carlsbad, CA 86,511 40% $68,410 $446,000 6 Laguna Niguel, CA 64,381 46% $85,585 $480,000 7 Danville, CA 44,397 37% $122,092 $703,500 8 Chino Hills, CA 72,333 91% $81,926 $347,000 9 Dublin, CA 31,733 36% $83,254 $432,500 10 Pleasanton, CA 66,336 29% $96,922 $509,000 11 Allen, TX 53,400 160% $84,278 $169,721 12 San Ramon, CA 47,887 32% $106,656 $529,500 13 Livermore, CA 75,272 30% $79,880 $400,000 14 Mission Viejo, CA 98,748 25% $84,060 $427,000 15 Coppell, TX 37,262 122% $102,202 $237,272 16 The Woodlands, TX 65,215 123% $89,746 $191,188 17 Diamond Bar, CA 58,136 18% $72,740 $332,500 18 Sugar Land, TX 73,845 65% $85,006 $183,374