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74. Aurora, IL
Aurora
Paramount Theater in Aurora
WINNER
Top 100 rank: 74
Population: 170,600
Compare Aurora to Top 10 Best Places
At the crossroads of city and country, Aurora is on the fringe of the Illinois Research & Development Corridor, a major stretch of intellectual and corporate brainpower.

As one of the first cities in Illinois to implement an all-electric street lighting system, Aurora is nicknamed "The City of Lights." And it keeps the flame alive downtown with entertainment at the Paramount Theatre and Hollywood Casino.

Downtown Alive, a free festival that includes live music and a variety of food booths, is held every Friday night in the summer. The only downside? A lingering reputation for crime, despite declines in the last six years.

Median family income
(per year)		 $77,262 $93,313
Family purchasing power
(annual, cost-of-living adjusted)		 $83,707 $84,802
Sales tax 7.75% 6.60%
State income tax rate
(highest bracket)		 N.A. 5.22%
State income tax rate
(lowest bracket)		 3.00% 2.42%
Auto insurance premiums
(Average price quotes, for the state)		 $1,537 $1,854
Job growth %
(2000-2007)		 24.18% 18.60%
Median home price $189,000 $293,712
Average property taxes
(2006)		 $5,710 $4,072
See Aurora homes for sale
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Colleges, universities and
professional schools (within 30 miles)		 32 40
Junior colleges and
technical institutes (within 30 miles)		 16 20
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)		 3.2% 17.3%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)		 0.8% 16.6%
% students attending public/private
schools (located within town limits)		 85.7/12.7 89.5/10.5
Air quality index*
(% of days AQI ranked as good)		 91.2% 76.0%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 43 2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) N.A.3 25
Median commute time
(in minutes)		 22.9 23.0
% population with commute
45 mins. or longer		 20.9% 15.8%
% population walk or bike to work 2.8% 3.0%
Movie theaters
(within 15 miles)		 30 51
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)		 3,465 4,141
Bars
(within 15 miles)		 182 338
Public golf courses
(within 30 miles)		 376 242
Libraries
(within 15 miles)		 60 90
Museums (accredited by AAM;
within 30 miles)		 2 11
Ski resorts (within 100 miles) 9 13
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts) 1.2 1.5
Annual rainfall
(inches)		 37.75 36.31
% clear days in the area 23 30
High temp in July ° F 83.6° 87.8°
Low temp in Jan ° F 10.7° 22.9°
Has health plan
(% of residents)		 86.7% 88.2%
Body mass index (avg. for residents) 27 27
Diabetes rates
(% of residents diagnosed)		 8.3% 9.6%
Hypertension rates
(% of residents diagnosed)		 30.9% 27.3%
Median age 29.5 36.0
Completed at least some college
(% of residents)		 59.1% 73.6%
Married 55.0% 57.5%
Divorced 7.9% 8.3%
Racial diversity index
(100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)		 112.0 104.0
Amount spent on vacations
(domestic and foreign, household avg. per year)		 $7,143 $8,012
From the August 2008 issue
Notes:
* County data
** State data
(3) Crime incidences are estimates based on FBI 2006 Universal Crime and incidence reports, OnBoard analysis.
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Nearby...
FORTUNE 500
Boeing 27
State Farm Insurance Cos. 32
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FORTUNE: Best to work for
None  
   
There are no Best Companies to Work For in this state.
EMAILFeedback on the Best Places to Live list?
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On Board LLC
Information powered by Onboard Informatics
Some data may be provided courtesy of its partners.
Sperling's Best Places
Additional data and consulting services provided by Bert Sperling's bestplaces.net.
Homes For Sale
Homes for sale provided by Trulia Real Estate Search.
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Ranking
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Population
8.3M
19,457
Home Prices
2007 median sales prices
$1.63M
$50K
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Is your town a great place to live?
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How we picked the Best Places
Using statistics from data provider Onboard Informatics and consultant Bert Sperling of BestPlaces.net, we crunched the numbers in order to zero in on America's best small cities for families. (Last year, we looked at small towns, with populations between 7,500 and 50,000.) More
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