South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota Score Big on U.S. Livability Index

When you think of the concept of 'quality of life', what things come to mind?

For the folks at AARP, it means a laundry list of essentials like:

Housing
Transportation
Neighborhood
Health
Environment
Social and Civic Engagement
Educational and Economic Opportunity

Using those criteria as their measuring stick, they have compiled a Livability Index, which they call a 'first of its kind, data-driven, web-based tool that measures every community and neighborhood in the US for the key amenities and services that affect the quality of life for people of all ages in the areas of.'

To keep the rankings fair, they broke the Top 100 places nationwide into four lists, based on population:

Very Large: 500,000+
Large: 100,000 - 499,999
Mid-Size: 25,0000 - 99,999
Small: 5,000 - 24,999

Out of the 100 best in America, 18 places from South Dakota, Iowa, and Minnesota made the cut:

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MOST LIVABLE PLACES IN AMERICA

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