Money's list of America's best small cities


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91. Norman, OK
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Norman
WINNER
Top 100 rank: 91
Population: 113,800
Compare Norman to Top 10 Best Places
It's easy to see why grads are often reluctant to leave this friendly, affordable college town: The median home price is under $130,000, and there are plenty of jobs (the area's unemployment rate is just 4%). Granted, the weather can be extreme; Norman is at the center of the most tornado-prone region of the country. But locals are more likely to work up a sweat worrying about the outcome of University of Oklahoma football games, which routinely draw crowds of 80,000 people. -- L.M.
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Norman stats
  City stats Best places avg.
Median family income
(per year)
$68,833 $96,825
Job growth %
(2000-2011)*
16.78% 25.01%
See jobs near Norman
Median home price $135,000 $269,768
See Norman homes for sale
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)
6.4% 28.2%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)
9.8% 29.2%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 1 2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 31 20
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)
1,415 3,134
High temp in July ° F 93.7° 86.8°
Low temp in Jan ° F 23.9° 18.4°
Median age 33.4 35.2
Financial City stats Best places avg.
Median family income
(per year)
$68,833 $96,825
Family purchasing power
(annual, cost-of-living adjusted)
$75,145 $93,218
State sales tax 4.50% 5.57%
State income tax rate
(highest bracket)
5.25%I 7.31%
State income tax rate
(lowest bracket)
0.50%I 3.08%
Auto insurance premiums
(Average price quotes, for the state)
$2,197 $1,596
Job growth %
(2000-2011)*
16.78% 25.01%
See jobs near Norman
Housing
Median home price $135,000 $269,768
Average property taxes
(2010)
$1,571 $6,517
See Norman homes for sale
Education
Colleges, universities and
professional schools (within 30 miles)
12 8
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)
6.4% 28.2%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)
9.8% 29.2%
% students attending public/private
schools (located within town limits)
93.9/6.1 91.5/8.5
Quality of life
Air quality index*
(% of days AQI ranked as good)
94.6% 77.3%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 1 2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 31 20
Median commute time (in minutes) 17.0 22.2
% population with commute
45 mins. or longer
9.6% 14.9%
% population walk or bike to work 4.7% 3.2%
Leisure and culture
Movie theaters
(within 15 miles)
10 33
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)
1,415 3,134
Bars
(within 15 miles)
106 199
Public golf courses
(within 30 miles)
62 169
Libraries
(within 15 miles)
31 70
Museums (accredited by AAM;
within 30 miles)
7 10
Ski resorts (within 100 miles) 0 6
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts) 1.7 1.4
Weather
Annual rainfall
(inches)
40.42 34.21
% clear days in the area 38 32
High temp in July ° F 93.7° 86.8°
Low temp in Jan ° F 23.9° 18.4°
Median age 33.4 35.2
Completed at least some college
(% of residents)
72.7% 72.6%
Married % 47.0% 57.9%
Divorced % 10.0% 8.0%
Racial diversity index
(100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)
80.2 118.4
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.

(I) Income tax notes:
The income brackets reported for Oklahoma are for single persons. For married persons filing jointly, the same tax rates apply to income brackets ranging from $2,000, to $15,000.
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