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www.CNNMoney.com/Bestplaces

Today, MONEY reveals the 2010 list of the “100 Best Places to Live in America,” highlighting small cities across the country with populations of 50,000 to 300,000. For the annual cover-story, on-sale July 16th, MONEY looked for places with the optimal combination of job opportunities, fiscal strength, top-notch schools, low crime, good health care, lots to do, and many other factors that make a town great for raising a family.
 
MONEY’s editors write, “If you focus on the averages, life in the typical American town frankly doesn’t seem so hot right now…but those bummer statistics obscure one important – and encouraging –fact: There are plenty of outliers.”
 
Eden Prairie, MN tops this year’s list at number-one. 18 miles outside Minneapolis, Eden Prairie has a terrific economy; its unemployment rate is nearly one percentage point below the county rate and more than four points below the national average. Eden Prairie is a beautiful, scenic place with 17 lakes and 125 miles of running, hiking, and biking trails. The residents rank among the healthiest people in the nation, and the community has a lot to offer for kids.
 
MONEY’s 2010 top-ten list:

1. Eden Prairie, MN: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2010/snapshots/PL2718116.html

2. Columbia/Ellicott City, MD: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2010/snapshots/PL2419125.html

3. Newton, MA: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2010/snapshots/PL2545560.html

4. Bellevue, WA: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2010/snapshots/PL5305210.html

5. McKinney, TX: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2010/snapshots/PL4845744.html

6. Fort Collins, CO: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2010/snapshots/PL0827425.html

7. Overland Park, KS: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2010/snapshots/PL2053775.html

8. Fishers, IN: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2010/snapshots/PL2053775.html

9. Ames, IA: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2010/snapshots/PL1901855.html

10. Rogers, AR : http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2010/snapshots/PL0560410.html


Plus, on CNNMoney.com, in an expanded survey of 800 American cities, CNNMoney ranks:

The best places to live if you are “rich and single”: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/moneymag/1007/gallery.best_places_rich_single.moneymag/index.html

The best places to buy an affordable home: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/moneymag/1007/gallery.best_places_affordable_homes.moneymag/index.html

To move for a top-earning town: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/moneymag/1007/gallery.best_places_top_earning_towns.moneymag/index.html

For job growth: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/moneymag/1007/gallery.best_places_job_growth.moneymag/index.html

MONEY also features the top-five places to:
Get a job: 1 – Grand Forks, ND; 2 – Bizmark, ND; 3- Iowa City, I; 4- Sioux Falls, SD; 5 – Ames, I
Find the love of your life (based on percentage of single residents): 1-Madison, WI; 2- Brookline, MA; 3- Waltham; MA; 4- Alexandria, VA; 5- Eau Claire, WI

Articles from the issue not yet online are available upon request.