Collierville cracks top 20 list of best small cities – Collierville Independent

Collierville found itself on yet another national list this week.
Nerdwallet.com has named Collierville the 17th Best Small City to live in within the U.S.
Bartlett (No. 18) was the only other Tennessee town to crack the top 20.
The website notes that Collierville’s population grew 19 percent from 2009-2012 and that 95 percent of the population had health insurance coverage in 2012.
The overall score for each city was derived from each of these measures:
• Growth: Population growth, income growth and change in poverty rate each comprised 11.1 percent of the overall score.
Collierville’s change in property rate was -1.1 percent.
A higher rate of population and income growth earned a higher score, and a larger decrease in poverty earned a higher score. The rate comes from the U.S. Census American Community Survey three-year estimates.
• Affordability: Selected yearly homeowner costs as a percentage of median worker income made up 33.3 percent of the total score. A lower percentage earned a higher score. This ratio is high in our study because we used the median income for one single worker, not for families, to standardize the values across similar households.
Most homeowners don’t pay this percentage of their income toward housing costs. Both metrics came from the U.S. Census American Community Survey 3-year estimates.
• Basic needs: Health insurance coverage and percentage below the poverty line each made up 16.7 percent of the total score. The data was from Census figures.
Nerdwallet compared 924 cities with populations from 25,000 to 100,000.
Carmel, Ind. was named the Best Small City.
Collierville received an overall score of 79, only four points below Carmel. Bartlett scored a 78.8.
The analysis incorporated the following factors:
1. Is the city poised to grow in coming years?
2. Is the city affordable for residents?
3. Are residents’ basic needs covered?