ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. — Two St. Charles County cities have bragging rights after a recent study named them among the best small cities in the nation to live in.
Financial technology company SmartAsset ranked O'Fallon, Missouri, at the top of its "Most Livable Small Cities in the U.S." list for 2022, while St. Charles nabbed the No. 9 spot.
The study looked at 286 cities with between 65,000 and 100,000 residents, considering metrics such as concentration of entertainment establishments, restaurants, bars, healthcare, income inequality, poverty and unemployment rates, and more.
It's the second year in a row that O'Fallon received the top ranking. Here's what SmartAsset had to say about the city:
- O’Fallon has the 11th-lowest income inequality across the study and the 21st-lowest percentage of residents living below the poverty line (4.6%)
- The city ranks 28th-best for home affordability, with the median home value just 2.54-times the median household income.
- Average housing costs make up about 18% of the median household income, the 25th-lowest percentage in the study
St. Charles also was praised as having the 18th-lowest housing costs of the cities included in the study, at 17.59% of the median household income. It has the 40th-lowest unemployment rate and ranks in the top-15th percentile for its concentration of healthcare establishments.
According to the study, Americans are finding a lot of livability in Midwest cities, which make up 19 of the 25 cities on SmartAsset's list. The top 10 cities also stood out for affordable housing.
The lowest ranking city was Miami Beach, Florida. Eleven out of the 20 lowest-ranked cities were also in Florida.
To see the full study, including more information on the metrics, data and methodology it used, click here.
