Grace

Forbes.com has listed the top American towns to live well. The regions boast cultural amenities, pro-business environments, highly educated workforces and enviable salaries. The data Forbes used to determine the list comes from ZoomProspector.com, a consulting firm based in San Francisco specializing in corporate relocation. It evaluated areas of the country with less than 100,000 people. Due to differing regional definitions, the label “town” was used for any city, township, borough or Census-designated place with such populations. Characteristics like the number of museums, parks, bars and restaurants, and cultural institutions per capita were considered, as were factors indicative of a favorable business environment. These include patents, venture capital funding, sole-proprietorships, start-ups and small businesses per capita.

What Forbes had to say about what makes Boulder the number one American Town to Live Well:

Population: 90,648
Location: Northwest of Denver, in the mountains.
Median income: $54,243

Strongest categories: Boulder is a consistent high performer in all our measures. The city’s businesses bring in $1,165 in per capita venture capital funding; it ranks fourth for its young and educated population of those 25-34 years old, in the top 5% for its patents per capita, second for its number of sole proprietors, fourth for its number of museums and cultural institutions and has an average commute of 17 minutes.

Drawbacks: If you don’t like snow, this might not be the place for you.

To see the rest of the list, click here.