North Shore Towns Among Nation's 'Best Small Cities'

According to a new ranking of the top small cities in the country based variety of factor, several towns on Chicago's North Shore are among the nation's best. Personal finance website Wallethub recently released the results of a study comparing smaller cities based upon "33 key indicators of livability," ranging from housing costs to school-system quality to restaurants.

The findings ranked 1,268 cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 based on affordability, economic health, education and health, quality of life and safety.

Highland Park ranked top among Illinois towns, coming in the 97th percentile. Its highest rankings came in the categories of safety, where it was ranked 53rd, and in affordability, in which it was ranked 85th.

It was followed by Northbrook, which scored highest in education and health (72nd) as well as safety (58th), landing it in the 96th percentile nationwide.

Buffalo Grove was ranked as the third safest city in the country in the study. It also scored higher in affordability, where it was ranked 74th, but came in far behind its neighbors when it came to quality of life. It was ranked 1094th in terms of factors like commute time, walkability and entertainment options, placing it in the 93rd percentile.

Rounded out the top five north suburban towns, Vernon Hills also was ranked in the 93rd percentile, while Wilmette was placed in the 92nd percentile, with other northern Cook County suburbs trailing.

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Check out below how the rest of the north suburbs fared on the 2017 Wallethub rankings of the best and worst small cities to live in. Higher scores correlate with higher percentiles in the table below.

The 99th percentile represents the top 1 percent of small cities in America, according to WalletHub. The top-ranked city with the highest total score was Princeton, New Jersey, while Bessemer, Alabama, which calls itself "The Marvel City," ranked last. Review the methodology here.

Related:

• North Shore High Schools Top Sports Rankings
• North Shore Towns Among State's 50 Safest
• North Shore Schools Among Best In State

_{Top photo: Open space in Highland Park | via Patch file}