Gee, I’d Really like to live here.!

How often do you visit a city for a business trip or vacation, and walk away thinking, “Gee, I’d really like to live here!”?

So what makes a small city great? Primarily, it’s institutions. “The cities at the top of the list were often home to a major institution like a university, hospital or state capital,” says Matt Carmichael, Livability’s editor. “Institutions like that help these smaller cities compete in terms of sports, culture, jobs and entertainment.”Here are the top 10 best medium-sized cities to live in the US in 2015 according to Livability.com.

1) Madison, Wisconsin

2) Rochester, Minnesota

3) Arlington, Virginia

4) Boulder, Colorado

5) Palo Alto, California

6) Berkeley, California

7) Santa Clara, California

8) Missoula, Montana

9) Boise, Idaho

10) Iowa City, Iowa