Here's why Galesburg ranks as one of the top small cities in America
GALESBURG — Now that Galesburg has been recognized as one of the top 20 best small cities in America, city and economic development officials say it's time to brag a little.
Galesburg ranks as the18th Best Small City to Live in America, according to a Census Data Report carried out by consumer finance startup, Pheabs.com.
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The report analyzed numerous variables including household incomes, poverty levels, hours worked per week and average home values — all key priorities for families and those looking to enjoy a great quality of life in a small city. This data was used to create a cumulative score which resulted in Galesburg, scoring 73, making it the 18th highest ranked best small city in America.
"It’s so cool to see our community make one of these 'Best of' lists," said Ken Springer, president of Knox County Area Partnership for Economic Development. "KCAP just held our annual meeting last week and our feature panel had five individuals who recently relocated to Galesburg.
"As part of the discussion, they all shared their reasons for choosing the Knox County region and it was clear that newcomers are finding a wide variety of things to like about the community."
The Top 5 Best Small Cities in America, according to the Pheabs research were:
Cedar Falls, Iowa
Winona, Minnesota
Marion, Indiana
Wooster, Ohio
Moorhead, Minnesota
Galesburg ranked second only to Normal, which was No. 15, for Illinois cities to make the top 100. The only other Illinois cities on the list were Rock Island (32nd) and Quincy (74th). Burlington, Iowa, made the list at 96th.
Pheab looked at over 1,200 cities with less than 80,000 residents to come up with the top list of small cities across the U.S.
"This data was collected between Pheabs and Census.gov, taking into account factors that are income driven (such as median household income, poverty levels, employment levels) and quality of life factors such as commute to work and residents who walk to work," said Daniel Tannenbaum, the founder of Pheabs.
"In my opinion, I think it is just something nice to share with local residents and make some noise about."
Here are the category scoring breakdowns for Galesburg:
Median household income: $34,973
Residents at poverty level: 6.1%
Average commute to work in minutes: 15.7
Residents who walk to work: 6.3%
Mean hours worked per week: 36.7
Median rent ($ per month): $625.9
Median home value: $77,770
Median selected monthly homeowner cost: $946
Competitive cost of living key for Galesburg
As to why Galesburg scored so well, Springer said he believes Galesburg's competitive cost of living has to be a large factor.
"And with the way everyday living expenses are trending upwards in this country, areas with affordable cost of living are going to become just that much more attractive for relocating residents," he said.
Springer said KCAP will promote the honor, and he hopes others with ties to Galesburg do, as well.
"In a larger sense, as our community seeks to grow and add population, studies like these give us an important outside perspective that reflects positively on Knox County," Springer said. "I hope every realtor and human resources recruiter in the region grabs ahold of this and shares it with people who are considering moving to our area."
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Galesburg Mayor Peter Schwartzman says he hopes the community can build on the honor.
"it is great to be recognized," Schwartzman said. "I believe we have been more intentional with our plans and actions and we have a really strong history to draw from.
"We have more work to do but we are moving in some very positive directions."
This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: Pheabs: Galesburg, IL, ranks among Best Small Cities in America
