Portland makes list of top 10 small cities in America

PORTLAND, Maine (WMTW) - A new report from WalletHub ranks Portland as the ninth-best small city in the country to live in.

For the report, WalletHub compared more than 1,319 U.S. cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 based on: affordability, economic health, education and health, quality of life and safety.

There were more than 40 factors considered in determining scores in those categories.

Portland ranked very high for quality of life — with the 13th best ranking in the country — and education and health but ranked 1,056 out of 1,319 for affordability.

Overall, Portland had a score of 69.82, putting the city in the 99th percentile.

South Portland was in the 94th percentile with a score of 66.52, scoring especially high for education and health.

Bangor had a score of 59.45, putting it in the 59th percentile.

Lewiston had a score of 56.9, putting it in the 43rd percentile.

Click here to see more about how the scores were determined and the factors that were taken into account.

Three other New England cities also cracked the top 10, all in Massachusetts: Lexington, Melrose and Needham.

Lancaster, Pennsylvania, topped the list from WalletHub.