2026 Best Small Cities in America include These 18 New England Cities and Towns

We're pretty darn lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the country.  I might be biased because I've lived here my whole life.  I know the people, I know the landscape and I know that we have some of the best small cities in the Country.

Now it seems that everyone knows too.

WalletHub compared over 1,300 cities across the country and looked at 5 things to determine what constitutes a great small city.  They were:

• Affordability
• Economic Health
• Education & Health
• Quality of LIfe
• Safety

Each category counted as 20 points.  The cities with the highest scores were tallied up and these 18 are the New England cities that were scored as "the best."

I will say that there is only ONE small city from New Hampshire and ONE from Maine. That makes sense, especially since the qualifications said that they city had to be of a certain size and NH/ME have many small towns.  (and that's the way we like it, Damnit!)

Here are the 18 Best Small Cities from New England

#18:  Nashua, NH with a total score of 89.  Go Gate City!  My hometown.

#17:  Burlington, MA, with a total score of 92.

#16:  Medford, MA, with a total of 92

#15:  Wellesley, MA with a total of 93

#14:  Waltham, MA with a score of 94

#13:  Somersworth, MA with a score of 95

#12:  Wakefield, MA with a score of 95

#11:  Brookline, MA with a score of 96

#10:  Belmont, MA got 96

#9:  Randolph, MA got a 97

#8:  Reading, MA got a 97

#7:  Melrose, MA got a 97

#6:  Newton, MA got a 98

#5:  Needham, MA got a 98

#4:  Portland, ME got a 98

#3:  Milton, MA got a 99

#2:  Arlington, MA got a 99

#1:  Lexington, MA got a 99

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From the WalletHub study, these places scored high in Economics, Health, Education and quality of life.  The affordability score was not as high in some circumstances, which, if you're looking for a house in New England, you already knew that.

What small city do you think should have made the list?