Movato, a real estate blog, ranked the top 10 places in New England with populations over 30,000 according to seven important criteria.

Excerpted from Movato.com and submitted by Renée McCue, Public Relations Specialist for the Town of West Hartford

West Hartford Town Hall. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

If you want history, hominess, and humility, then you really need to take a look at New England, because it’s got all that and more. From Maine to Massachusetts, it’s hard to come across a better place to call home than any of these 10 locales. They are:

1. Town of Lexington, MA
2. City of Waltham, MA
3. City of Watertown, MA
4. Town of Framingham, MA (Tie)
4. Town of Brookline, MA (Tie)
6. City of Cambridge, MA
7. City of Stamford, CT
8. City of Woburn, MA
9. Town of West Hartford, CT
10. Marlborough, MA

In order to create this Big Deal List, Movoto turned to sources including the 2012 U.S. Census, business listings, and National Weather Service data. To start, Movoto made a list of all the places in New England with populations over 30,000. Movoto then researched and ranked those 79 places in seven important criteria:

1. Amenities per capita
2. Quality of life (cost of living, median home price, median rent, median household income, and student-to-teacher ratio)
3. Total crimes
4. Tax rates (sales tax and income tax)
5. Unemployment
6. Commute time
7. Weather (temperature and air quality)

Cities and towns were ranked from 1 to 79 in each of these criteria, with scores closer to one being better. Movoto then averaged all of each place’s rankings into one Big Deal Score. The place with the lowest number for that score became our best spot in New England.

To view the complete article, click here http://www.movoto.com/blog/top-ten/best-places-in-new-england/

Coming in at No. 9 was West Hartford, a place that’s not at all new to top rankings. In fact, in 2010, CNN Money ranked West Hartford as the 55th best small city in America, which makes them a shoo-in for our best places in New England ranking.

Of course, we did everything by the numbers, and the numbers here had a lot to say about how great this place was. There were plenty of amenities per capita, a high quality of life, decently low crime, and decently low unemployment. This place also had the eighth lowest commute and the ninth best weather, thanks to some great average temperatures.

It’s also worth mentioning that the housing prices, cost of living, and median rent were generally lower here than other places in our top 10. Still, the median income here was a high $78,530, so this is likely one of the most affordable place in our top 10 for all you bargain hunters out there.

About Movoto: Movoto Real Estate Blog strives to make the home-buying process an easy and enjoyable experience by providing detailed housing information and access to knowledgeable local real estate agents. We have received coverage from all over the world for our city-ranking lists. Our thorough and well-researched methods involve using algorithms to weigh categories in ways that have never been done before. We take the time to dig deep into the important subjects in life.