Money's list of America's best small cities


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45. Abington, PA
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Abington
WINNER
Top 100 rank: 45
Population: 55,700
Compare Abington to Top 10 Best Places
When looking at suburbs within a 30-minute drive to Philadelphia, it's tough to find one with better schools. A slew of Abington schools are longtime blue-ribbon and state medal award winners; last year's math and reading test scores were 38% and 35% above the state average, respectively. While residents gripe about traffic on Abington's winding streets, they needn't commute far for shopping: Willow Grove Mall has more than 130 stores, and small businesses are doing well. --D.M.
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Abington stats
  City stats Best places avg.
Median family income
(per year)
$96,188 $96,825
Job growth %
(2000-2011)*
-2.01% 25.01%
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Median home price $253,129 $269,768
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Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)
35.0% 28.2%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)
37.9% 29.2%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 2 2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 22 20
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)
7,469 3,134
High temp in July ° F 81.0° 86.8°
Low temp in Jan ° F 17.1° 18.4°
Median age 39.6 35.2
Financial City stats Best places avg.
Median family income
(per year)
$96,188 $96,825
Family purchasing power
(annual, cost-of-living adjusted)
$89,895 $93,218
State sales tax 6.00% 5.57%
State income tax rate
(highest bracket)
3.07% 7.31%
State income tax rate
(lowest bracket)
3.07% 3.08%
Auto insurance premiums
(Average price quotes, for the state)
$1,468 $1,596
Job growth %
(2000-2011)*
-2.01% 25.01%
See jobs near Abington
Housing
Median home price $253,129 $269,768
Average property taxes
(2011)
$2,189 $6,517
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Education
Colleges, universities and
professional schools (within 30 miles)
54 8
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)
35.0% 28.2%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)
37.9% 29.2%
% students attending public/private
schools (located within town limits)
N.A./N.A. 91.5/8.5
Quality of life
Air quality index*
(% of days AQI ranked as good)
78.1% 77.3%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 2 2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 22 20
Median commute time (in minutes) 22.2 22.2
% population with commute
45 mins. or longer
18.1% 14.9%
% population walk or bike to work 3.9% 3.2%
Leisure and culture
Movie theaters
(within 15 miles)
52 33
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)
7,469 3,134
Bars
(within 15 miles)
672 199
Public golf courses
(within 30 miles)
270 169
Libraries
(within 15 miles)
205 70
Museums (accredited by AAM;
within 30 miles)
20 10
Ski resorts (within 100 miles) 12 6
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts) 1.0 1.4
Weather
Annual rainfall
(inches)
40.86 34.21
% clear days in the area 26 32
High temp in July ° F 81.0° 86.8°
Low temp in Jan ° F 17.1° 18.4°
Median age 39.6 35.2
Completed at least some college
(% of residents)
66.9% 72.6%
Married % 56.2% 57.9%
Divorced % 7.5% 8.0%
Racial diversity index
(100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)
79.7 118.4
From the September 2012 issue
Notes: *County data
Due to erroneous job, cost-of-living, and test score stats for a small number of places, this city's rank changed slightly from an earlier version. Details.

Due to an error by our data provider, an earlier version listed incorrect stats for this city's number of colleges.
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