6 MA Small Cities Among Nation's Top 20: Study

For all its big cities, Massachusetts has some of the most enviable small cities in America. WalletHub confirmed that in a recent study, placing three Bay State small cities in the top 10 nationwide.

Melrose, the Victorian-inspired city north of Boston which often leads many of similar polls from different publications, led the state and came in fourth in the United States. While it had one of the lowest quality of life and affordability rankings among top finishers, it ranked 68th in economic health, 11th in education and health and eighth in safety.

Lexington (5th in education and health, 2d in safety) and Milton (15th in education and health, 5th in safety) ranked sixth and seventh overall on the poll. Milton is also where the affordability started to come into play — WalletHub ranked it the 178th most affordable small city in America.

Needham (11th,) Newton (16th) and Arlington (18th) were just outside the top 10.

A couple dozen other Massachusetts small cities made the list, including Brookline, Wakefield, Medford, Wellesley, Woburn, Waltham, Medford and Somerville. See the full list here.

“Small-city life can be best for those who appreciate more wiggle room, fewer degrees of separation and shorter commutes, to name just a few advantages,” authors of the WalletHub study said.

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