Smithville has been ranked 34th in the nation among the “best suburbs to live in near a large city” recently announced by SmartAsset, a publisher of financial guides focused on consumer choices.
The Clay County community ranked well in affordability and livability, which were 66.35 and 62.65 respectively. However, Smithville was especially notable for its job score of 81.13.
SmartAsset’s job score is based on median household income, five-year growth in income, 10-year growth in employment, job diversity and unemployment rate. Affordability includes housing costs as a percent of income, home value-to-income ratio and the estimated annual cost of living.
Livability focuses on the high school graduation rate, dining and entertainment as a percent of all establishments, and crime rates.
Other area cities listed in the rankings included Lenexa at No. 85; Belton, No. 87; and Blue Springs, No. 176.
For this study, SmartAsset considered suburbs neighboring a large city and with a population between 5,000 and 100,000. This resulted in a study of 494 suburbs, which were then compared across the three categories.
