This Is the Best Small City in America

Indiana's Carmel tops WalletHub's list
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 6, 2024 9:00 AM CDT
This Is the Best Small City in America
A street scene in Carmel, Indiana.   (Getty Images/littleny)

Not everyone needs a city that never sleeps—and if you head to one of America's smaller cities, things often shut down soon after dinner. But that's part of the appeal for many, and WalletHub looks at the stats to see how the nation's more modest metropolises compare. The site looked at more than 1,300 US cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000, examining nearly four dozen metrics in five main categories: affordability; economic health; education and health; quality of life; and safety. Carmel in Indiana emerged as the No. 1 small city on the list. Check out which others made the top 10:

  1. Carmel, Indiana
  2. Brookfield, Wisconsin
  3. Lexington, Massachusetts (No. 1 in "Education & Health" category)
  4. Fishers, Indiana
  5. Appleton, Wisconsin
  6. Apex, North Carolina
  7. Brentwood, Tennessee
  8. Lancaster, Pennsylvania
  9. Bozeman, Montana
  10. Westfield, Indiana
See how other cities ranked here. (CNN recently came out with its own list of the best small cities to visit.)

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