Kirkland, Sammamish Make 'Best Small Cities in America' List

KIRKLAND, WA - Residents of two Eastside cities have reason to celebrate today: Sammamish and Kirkland have been named two of the best small cities in the U.S. by the personal finance website WalletHub. The website ranked cities on factors like affordability, economic health, and quality of education.

Sammamish and Kirkland were ranked Nos. 14 and 15 among the top 20 cities. Redmond (No. 60), Bothell, Issaquah, and Edmonds also made the list.

What made Sammamish and Kirkland stand out? Sammamish earned high marks for its affordability, safety, and education. Kirkland came in No. 4 in the whole U.S. for economic health, but scored low (No. 669) for housing affordability. Redmond also scored highly for economic health coming in at No. 16 overall in the U.S.

The lowest ranking city on the list? Tiny Bessemer, Ala., which is southwest of Birmingham.

The WalletHub analysis included more than 1,200 small cities in the U.S., which are places with populations between 25,000 and 100,000. So cities like Bellevue and Seattle were not part of the analysis.

To see the full report, visit the WalletHub website.

Image via City of Kirkland