Best Small Cities in USA – Any in WNY?

I always look forward to these WalletHub reports.  WalletHub is a financial analysis website that on a regular basis turns out surveys and reports on various topics.  Their latest report is 2017's Best Small Cities in America.

WalletHub compared more than 1,200 small cities across the country with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 in five categories, Affordability, Economic Health, Education and Health, Quality of Life and Safety.

The metrics they used In each category were based on a 100 point scale with 100 representing the most favorable conditions.  Among the things they measured were Median Household Income, Income Growth, Housing Costs, Population Growth, School System Quality, High School Graduation Rate, Average Commute Time, Number of Restaurants, Clubs, Theatres, Department Stores, Fitness Clubs and Museums per Capita and Violent and Property Crime Rate.

Because so many cities were included in the survey they were grouped by percentile.  The 99th percentile equals the top one percent of cities in America.  There were no cities locally that rated that high, but West Seneca came out in the 80th percentile. That was the highest of the local cities mentioned.  North Tonawanda was in the 72nd percentile and Tonawanda was in 69th percentile.

A number of other local communities were below the 50th percentile.

Here's the complete WalletHub report: