City dwellers looking to make the move from Chicago to a smaller city may only have to look as far as the suburbs.
Northwest suburban Crystal Lake and Algonquin were both ranked among the best small cities in the country based on quality of life and affordable living costs, according to a report from the personal finance website WalletHub.
Among 1,268 U.S. cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000, Crystal Lake was ranked 10th and Algonquin was ranked 25th. Some of the factors in the study included housing costs, cost of living, unemployment rate, income growth, population growth, quality of school systems, average commute time and the number of restaurants and coffee shops in the city.
The top-rated small city in the country is Princeton, New Jersey, according to WalletHub. Although Princeton ranks first in "economic health" and seventh in "education and health," it falls drastically short in the "affordability" rank at No. 1,144.
Crystal Lake rated best in the "education and health" category with a No. 12 ranking and worst in the "quality of life" category with a No. 413 ranking.
Algonquin mirrored Crystal Lake with its best and worst rankings, coming in at No. 52 for "education and health" and No. 952 for "qualify of life."
A few other Illinois cities made the top 100 last as well:
Local
McHenry — 45
Vernon Hills — 62
Lake in the Hills — 65
Quincy — 93
Bloomington — 99
