Leesburg #1 Best Small City in Virginia, Report Says

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — Leesburg, Va. ranks in the top 20 best small cities in America and #1 in Virginia, according to the personal finance website WalletHub. Westfield, Indiana placed at #1 in the country. At #18 in America, Leesburg is the only small city in the state of Virginia in the top 20.

Statewide in Virginia, nearby Sterling ranked at #6 and Ashburn at #10.

To determine the best small cities in America, WalletHub’s analysts compared 1,268 "cities" across five key dimensions: 1) Affordability, 2) Economic Health, 3) Education & Health, 4) Quality of Life and 5) Safety. For the sample, WalletHub selected cities with population sizes between 25,000 and 100,000 and considered only the “city proper” in each case, excluding "cities" in the surrounding metro area. To see the detailed methodology, click here.

According to WalletHub, Leesburg ranks in the 99th percentile, representing the top one percent of small cities in America. Sterling is in the top 70 percent and Ashburn in the upper 48 percent.

SEE ALSO: Ashburn the Best Place to Live in Virginia, Among Top in Nation: Money Magazine

Click on this interactive map to see study results by location:

Best 20 Small Cities in Virginia

1. Leesburg
2. Charlottesville
3. Winchester
4. Fredericksburg
5. Manassas
6. Sterling
7. McLean
8. Harrisonburg
9. Lynchburg
10. Ashburn
11. Suffolk
12. Roanoke
13. Springfield
14. Reston
15. Mechanicsville
16. Centreville
17. Danville
18. Portsmouth
19. Annandale
20. Petersburg

Here's how Leesburg, Sterling and Ashburn ranked in the WalletHub analysis:

'Affordability' Rank in U.S.:

Determined by examining: Housing Costs; Cost of Living; Median Household Income; and the Home Ownership rate.

• Ashburn: 137
• Leesburg: 242
• Sterling: 331

'Economic Health' Rank in U.S.:

Determined by examining: Unemployment rate; Percentage of Residents Living Below Poverty Level; Population Growth; and Income Growth.

• Leesburg: 44
• Ashburn: 563
• Sterling: 628

'Education and Health' Rank in U.S.:

Determined by examining: School System Quality; High School Graduation Rate; Percentage of Residents with at Least a High School Diploma; Percentage of Population with Health Insurance Coverage; Premature Death Rate; Poor or Fair Health; Low Birth Weight; Adult Obesity; and Physical Inactivity.

• Ashburn: 8
• Leesburg: 46
• Sterling: 111

'Quality of Life' Rank in U.S.:

Determined by examining: Average Commute Time; Percentage of Residents Who Walk to Work; Mean Hours Worked per Week; Numbers Per Capita of: Restaurants, Bars, Coffee Shops, Museums, Performing Arts Centers; Fitness Centers; and Department Stores.

• Sterling: 50
• Leesburg: 318
• Ashburn: 555

'Safety' Rank in the U.S.:

Determined by examining violent crime rate and property crime rate.

• Leesburg: 213
• Ashburn: not ranked*
• Sterling: not ranked*

* The cities that appear on the ranking in Loudoun County (Ashburn, Sterling); Fairfax County (Annandale, Centreville, McLean, Reston, Springfield); and in Mechanicsville and Blacksburg are not included in the WalletHub analysis in the Safety category.

"In order to determine our sample we only considered 'city proper', excluding cities in the surrounding metro area. The data to create the Crime Rate rankings was obtained from the Federal Bureau of Investigation," said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst.

In the above cities: "This data was unavailable... as such we marked it as N/A. These results did not count towards the final ranking," Gonzalez added.

What do you think? Do you agree with the analysis? Which of these criteria matters to you for being among the "best" as a place to live? Tell us by posting in the Comments Section.

To view the full report ranking, visit: https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-small-cities-to-live-in/16581.

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