Northern Virginia’s growth has exploded lately, and whether that’s due to Amazon’s announcement of bringing HQ2 to the area, the region’s average income and steady job force or the family-friendly neighborhoods, people are moving into the area at an increased rate.
The U.S. Census Bureau recently released new data showing suburban population growth outpaced city growth in 2018. Intrigued by that fact, WalletHub, a personal finance website dedicated to conducting studies on everything that affects people’s wallets, launched a report on 2019’s best small cities in America.
Want Northern Virginia Magazine delivered to your mailbox? Subscribe to our monthly publication here.
WalletHub compares more than 1,200 U.S. cities—all with populations between 25,000 and 100,000—across 42 livability factors, ranging from housing costs to the quality of schools systems to the number of restaurants per capita.
Did Northern Virginia rank well in the list, you may be wondering? Yes. Coming in at No. 12 for the top 20 small cities in America is Leesburg, meaning it is in the top 1% of small cities in the nation.
The report also takes a look at cities’ affordability, economic health and residents’ education and health, quality of life and safety. It is also important to note that the study only considered the city proper in each case, excluding cities in the surrounding metro areas.
For more information, or to take a look at the study yourself, click here.
