3 Florida Small Cities Among 100 Best In US

SARASOTA, FL — Three small Florida cities are among the 100 best in the U.S., according to a new study by personal finance website WalletHub.

To help Americans put down roots in places offering good quality of life and affordability, WalletHub compared more than 1,200 U.S. cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 across 42 key indicators of livability," WalletHub editors penned. "They range from housing costs to school-system quality to restaurants per capita."

The three Florida cities that ranked in the top 100 are Sarasota, Boca Raton and Winter Park, according to WalletHub.

"Boca Raton's strongest suits were the number of restaurants, fitness centers and performing arts centers per capita," the website's Diana Popa told Patch.

Sarasota ranked best in the categories of number of bars per person as well as the number of restaurants per person, according to WalletHub.

"For Winter Park it was the number of parks, performing arts centers and bike rental facilities per capita," Popa said.

The advantages of living in a smaller city include shorter commuting times and greater affordability, WalletHub said.

Each relevant metric was listed with its corresponding weight and the cities were graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the maximum small city experience.

Sarasota finished in the 93rd percentile overall for best small cities in the United States.

• Total Score: 66.54
• Affordability: 1098
• Economic Health: 364
• Education & Health: 638
• Quality of Life: 1
• Safety: 1008

Winter Park finished in the 92nd percentile overall for best small cities in the United States.

• Total Score: 66.34
• Affordability: 803
• Economic Health: 43
• Education & Health: 679
• Quality of Life: 35
• Safety: 661

Boca Raton finished in the 95th percentile overall for best small cities in the United States.

• Total Score: 67.14
• Affordability: 933
• Economic Health: 138
• Education & Health: 527
• Quality of Life: 15
• Safety: 668

Leawood, Kansas ranked as the best small city in the nation, according to WalletHub, followed by Brentwood, Tennessee and Sammamish, Washington.

Bessemer, Alabama finished as the worst small city in the United States.

Here are the top 10 overall small cities in the country:

1. Leawood, Kansas: 71.98
2. Brentwood, Tennessee: 71.53
3. Sammamish, Washington: 71.34
4. Melrose, Massachusetts: 70.7
5. Carmel, Indiana: 70.59
6. Lexington, Massachusetts: 70.55
7. Milton, Massachusetts: 70.46
8. Brookfield, Wisconsin: 70.38
9. Fair Lawn, New Jersey: 70.25
10. Cedar Park, Texas: 69.98

You can find the complete study findings here.

Patch editor Gus Saltonstall contributed to this article.