Looking for small town living? These are the best small cities to raise a family in

Make Moscow home

Ready to buy a home but not sure where to put down roots? If starting a family’s on your radar, you might want to head to Moscow — Moscow, Idaho, that is. The city was recently ranked the No. 1 small town to raise a family in.

Settling in a small town

According to Livability’s Best Places to Raise a Family, Moscow is that nation’s top spot for planting those roots. Though the city boasts a population of just 24,688, it also comes with highly rated education (including the University of Idaho), plus great sights and cultural spots (UI’s Arboretum and Botanical Garden, for one).

Other cities high on the list were Ann Arbor, Michigan, a city of 116,000 and home to the University of Michigan; Beaverton, Oregon, a suburb of nearby Portland where Nike, IBM and other big companies are headquartered; and Fort Collins, Colorado, the biggest city on the list at 153,000 residents.

Ann Arbor also took the top spot on Niche.com’s Best Cities to Live in America list earlier this year.

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What makes a great place to live

In all, Livability’s list factored in quality of local schools, area child-age health, childcare costs, daycare options, walkability, housing affordability, the share of the population under age 6 and, even the number of candy stores.

“This year’s Best Places to Raise a Family list highlights some famously family-friendly cities and some gems you might never have heard of,” said Winona Dimeo-Ediger, Livability.com’s managing editor. “To get to the heart of what makes a city great for families, we combined rigorous data collection and ranking criteria with personal testimonials from these cities’ most important residents: kids.”

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Lesser-known cities to make the top 10 included Bloomington, Indiana; State College, Pennsylvania; Oak Park, Illinois; Fayetteville, Arkansas; Morgantown, West Virginia; and Bozeman, Montana.

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Looking to buy a home in one of these small towns? Then shop around and see what mortgage rates you qualify for today.