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<p>America’s 50 Best Cities to Live<br>
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<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://247wallst.com/special-report/2016/10/26/americas-50-best-cities-to-live-in/">http://247wallst.com/special-report/2016/10/26/americas-50-best-cities-to-live-in/</a>
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<p><span class="byline">By <a class="vcard author url"
href="http://247wallst.com/author/thomas-c-frohlich/"
title="Posts by Thomas C. Frohlich" rel="author"
itemprop="author" itemscope=""
itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><span class="fn"
itemprop="name">Thomas C. Frohlich</span></a>, <a
class="vcard author url"
href="http://247wallst.com/author/evan-comen/" title="Posts by
Evan Comen" rel="author" itemprop="author" itemscope=""
itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><span class="fn"
itemprop="name">Evan Comen</span></a>, <a class="vcard
author url"
href="http://247wallst.com/author/samuel-stebbins/"
title="Posts by Samuel Stebbins" rel="author"
itemprop="author" itemscope=""
itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><span class="fn"
itemprop="name">Samuel Stebbins</span></a> and <a
class="vcard author url"
href="http://247wallst.com/author/michael-sauter/"
title="Posts by Michael B. Sauter" rel="author"
itemprop="author" itemscope=""
itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><span class="fn"
itemprop="name">Michael B. Sauter</span></a></span> <span
class="timestamp" itemprop="datePublished"
content="2016-10-26T06:00:46+00:00">October 26, 2016 6:00 am EDT</span></p>
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<p>Moving from one city to another is much more common in the United
States than it used to be. No matter the reasons for the move —
buying a house, looking for a new job, leaving home for the first
time — it is always a major undertaking. A host of factors play an
important role in deciding where to move, including the quality of
schools, the strength of the local economy and job market, safety,
culture, and even climate. Americans facing this decision have
much to consider.</p>
<p>To determine America’s best cities to live in, 24/7 Wall St.
reviewed data on the 550 U.S. cities with populations of 65,000 or
more as measured by the U.S. Census Bureau. Based on a range of
variables, including crime rates, employment growth, access to
restaurants and attractions, educational attainment, and housing
affordability, 24/7 Wall St. identified America’s 50 Best Cities
to Live.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Deciding where to live, or whether your current city meets your
standards, can be a highly subjective assessment. In an interview
with 24/7 Wall St., Elise Gould, senior economist with nonprofit
think tank the Economic Policy Institute, noted several personal
factors that cannot be easily measured. The presence of a family
support system or an individual’s personal preference for oceans
or mountains, she explained, can have a major bearing on the
decision of where to move — or whether to move at all.</p>
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<p>Gould also acknowledged that the reasons for relocating differ
considerably depending on the person or family. With children, the
quality and presence of public schools becomes important; as a
young person, the age of a population may be a significant factor;
and, for someone without a large disposable income, the presence
of certain amenities may be entirely irrelevant.</p>
<p>Still, for most Americans, a few social and economic
characteristics largely account for a city’s desirability and
overall quality. “People move for work,” Gould said. For many
families on the move, the prospect of obtaining a job is often the
most important — if not the only — consideration. For this reason,
24/7 Wall St. weighed this factor heavily when identifying the
best places to live.</p>
<p>In 45 of the 50 best cities to live, the annual unemployment
rates are below the national rate, and with a few exceptions, all
50 cities reported job growth at least in line with the national
job growth rate. Incomes in these cities, when adjusted for cost
of living, exceed the national annual household income of $55,775
in the vast majority of cases.</p>
<p>Many of the cities on this list are very expensive places to
live. In Broomfield, Colorado, even after adjusting for the city’s
high cost of living, the typical household income of $76,231 a
year remains well above the national median. Conversely, many of
the best cities have a relatively low cost of living, and already
high incomes therefore become even higher.</p>
<p>The populations of many of these cities are also growing very
fast. Over the past five years, the populations of all but a
handful of the 50 cities grew substantially faster than the
national five-year population growth rate of 3.9%. Commenting on
expensive cities with growing populations, Gould said, “the
benefits must be outweighing those high costs.”</p>
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<p><strong>2. Meridian, Idaho</strong><br>
<strong>> Population:</strong> 90,753<br>
<strong>> Median home value:</strong> $213,100<br>
<strong>> Poverty rate:</strong> 10.7%<br>
<strong>> Pct. with at least a bachelor’s degree:</strong>
35.2%</p>
<p>Meridian is located just outside of Idaho’s capital city of
Boise. The city is safe — Just over 100 violent crimes were
reported per 100,000 residents in Meridian last year, a fraction
of the national violent crime rate of 373 violent crimes per
100,000 people nationwide.</p>
<p>The city’s annual unemployment rate is quite low, At just 3.5%
compared to the national jobless rate of 5.3%. Moreover, jobs are
being added to the local economy faster than in most of the United
States. The number of jobs increased by nearly 10% from 2013
through the end of last year, much faster than the national jobs
growth rate of 4.0% over that period. Prospective employment is
frequently the first priority for Americans considering
relocation. With the strong job market, Meridian’s population has
been growing dramatically in recent years. The city’s population
growth rate of over 20% over the five years through 2015 is more
than five times the nation’s 5-year population growth rate of
3.9%.</p>
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<p><b>Ken</b></p>
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