These CA Towns Rank Among The 'Best Small Cities In America'

Californians looking to settle in the suburbs should consider one of these small cities in the Golden State, according to a new list by WalletHub.

To determine the Best Small Cities in America and help people choose the perfect small place to put down roots, researchers at the personal finance website crunched the numbers and compared more than 1,300 U.S. cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 based on 45 key indicators of livability. They range from housing costs to school-system quality to the number of restaurants per capita.

Given the large sample of cities ranked in the study, WalletHub grouped results by percentile. The 99th percentile represents the top 1% of small cities in America.

Dozens of California cities made the list, with 54 ranking in the 70th percentile or higher.

Palo Alto ranked as the best small city to live in the state, according to WalletHub. The city in the San Francisco Bay Area, which landed in the 94th percentile, ranked 118th in education and health, 27th in economic health, 498th in safety, 78th in quality of life, and 1,095th in affordability.

Carmel, Indiana, ranked as the best small city in the country, followed by Brookfield, Wisconsin, and Apex, North Carolina.

Bessemer, Alabama, ranked as the worst small city in the country. The community scored in the 1st percentile.

"Moving from a bustling metropolis to a small city could drastically cut down your cost of living. On top of that, the best small cities offer strong job markets, high-quality education, good health care, safe living conditions and plenty of local flair to help you achieve a high quality of life," WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said. "While small cities may lack some advantages of big cities, like robust public transportation systems, they make up for these shortcomings in other areas."

These are the small cities in California that ranked in the 70th percentile or higher. Their percentile is in parenthesis:

• Palo Alto (94)
• Los Altos (94)
• Livermore (93)
• Cupertino (93)
• Dublin (92)
• Rocklin (92)
• Yorba Linda (91)
• Menlo Park (90)
• Newport Beach (87)
• Los Gatos (87)
• Belmont (86)
• Saratoga (85)
• San Carlos (85)
• Mountain View (85)
• San Ramon (85)
• Milpitas (83)
• Encinitas (83)
• Pleasanton (82)
• Santa Barbara (82)
• Redondo Beach (82)
• Monterey (81)
• Danville (81)
• Rancho Santa Margarita (81)
• Morgan Hill (80)
• Claremont (80)
• Burlingame (80)
• Brea (79)
• Petaluma (79)
• Walnut Creek (79)
• Poway (78)
• Dana Point (77)
• Folsom (77)
• Lincoln (77)
• Brentwood (76)
• Lake Forest (76)
• Windsor (75)
• Santa Cruz (75)
• Pacifica (75)
• Newark (75)
• Aliso Viejo (75)
• San Juan Capistrano (74)
• Benicia (74)
• Mission Viejo (74)
• Foster City (73)
• Moorpark (73)
• San Clemente (72)
• Goleta (72)
• Cypress (72)
• Camarillo (72)
• Lafayette (71)
• Oakley (71)
• Campbell (71)
• San Rafael (70)
• Napa (70)

Read the full report here.