WalletHub has published its 2025 rankings of the Best Small Cities in America. The personal finance website analyzed over 1,300 U.S. cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 across 45 key indicators of livability. The indicators fell into five main categories: 1) Affordability 2) Economic Health 3) Education & Health 4) Quality of Life and 5) Safety. Each city was given a total score out of 100.
With a score of 71.01, Carmel, IN was declared the best small city in the U.S. It was followed by Brookfield, WI (70.92) and Apex, NC (70.67).
Dozens of California cities made the list, but none of them broke a score of 66. Below is a list of California’s top 25 small cities in 2025 according to WalletHub (total scores in parenthesis):
1. Palo Alto (65.93)
2 Los Altos (65.79)
3. Livermore (65.59)
4. Cupertino (65.46)
5. Dublin (65.3)
6. Rocklin (65.2)
7. Yorba Linda (64.96)
8. Menlo-Atherton Park (64.82)
9. Newport Beach (64.27)
10. Los Gatos (64.19)
11. Belmont (63.95)
12. Saratoga (63.82)
13. San Carlos (63.78)
14. Mountain View (63.76)
15. San Ramon (63.74)
16. Milpitas (63.44)
17. Pleasanton (63.35)
18. Santa Barbara (63.33)
19. Redondo Beach (63.25)
20. TIE: Monterey (63.17)
20. TIE: Danville (63.17)
21. Rancho Santa Margarita (63.3)
22. Morgan Hill (62.99)
23. TIE: Claremont (62.88)
23. TIE: Burlingame (62.88)
24. Brea (62.73)
25. Petaluma (62.67)
Some further highlights:
Among all the U.S. cities that WalletHub analyzed, Coachella has the highest income growth.
Saratoga and San Carlos have the highest percentage of insured residents.
Bell Gardens ranks highest for housing costs among all the U.S. cities. West Hollywood has the lowest rate of homeownership.
Among California’s small cities, Isla Vista has the highest poverty rate and lowest income growth.
See WalletHub’s rankings of the Best Small Cities in America here.
Data was compiled by WalletHub and does not reflect statistics on all cities.