Best Small Cities In U.S. 2019: Alpharetta Makes The List

ALPHARETTA, GA — Alpharetta might not be the biggest in the state, but we recently received recognition as one of the best small cities in the nation.

Personal finance site WalletHub released its 2019 Best Small Cities in America, which only included metros with populations between 25,000 and 100,000.

Our city finished in the 97 percentile overall for best small cities in the United States.

• Total Score: 68.25
• Affordability Rank: 196
• Economic Health Rank: 81
• Education & Health Rank: 713
• Quality of Life Rank: 53
• Safety Rank: 321

The history of Alpharetta dates back to the 1830s, when settlers and pioneers traveled to the area seeking the promise of community in land ownership, raising families and fertile farmland, the city said on its website. From its humble beginnings as a trading post, the community found prosperity and the City of Alpharetta was established on December 11, 1858; later becoming the seat of government for Milton County, the city said.

"Alpharetta remained a small, largely agrarian community through the early 1980s, but shortly thereafter the city blossomed into one of the most prosperous communities in the United States," the city says on its website. "The community that had a population of only 3,000 in 1980 today is home to more than 65,000 residents and sees its population swell to more than 100,000 each workday. Alpharetta is now Georgia’s 12th most populous city, boasts some of the best schools in the United States, and is known far and wide as the 'Technology City of the South' due to the large number of tech-focused companies that call Alpharetta home."

The list compared more than 1,200 cities across the nation based on 42 key indicators of liveability, including home ownership rate, the number of performing arts centers in the area, job growth and more.

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

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.

“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

Other Georgia cities on the list that finished above the 50th percentile include Peachtree City (86), Johns Creek (83), Kennesaw (80), Milton (79), Roswell (76), Duluth (76), Marietta (69), Smyrna (63).

Patch editor Gus Saltonstall contributed to this article.