12) Royal Oak
Royal Oak is a mid-sized city of 60,000 people, but don’t mistake its not-so-large size for lack of amenities. It has everything from a well-functioning education system to a zoo, the Emagine Theater, dozens of bookshops, and lots more. The cost of living in Royal Oak is lower than the national average; the cost of housing, 10 percent lower than that. The education system of the city is comprised of 17 public schools, which means more than three schools for kids of every age group. This superb education system has contributed to the fact that more than half of the city’s population holds a college degree. The unemployment rate is 13 percent lower than the national average. The median household income is 18 percent higher than the national average. The poverty rate is 51 percent lower than the national poverty rate, which makes Richland safer than 72 percent of all the cities in the U.S. In other words, it’s a mid-sized city with king-sized amenities.
