Olathe Ranked as the 11th Best Place to Live in U.S.
2008 Money Magazine Top 100 Places to Live

Every two years Money Magazine publishes their Top 100 Best Places to Live in America.  In 2008, Money Magazine ranked Olathe, KS as the 11th Best Place to Live.  This is two spots higher than Olathe's 2006 ranking of 13th Best Place to Live.  The methodology Money Magazine uses to find their best places to live is listed below:

• 716 (Start with all U.S. cities that have populations of 50,000 to 300,000)
• 544 (Exclude retirement communities, places where income is less than 85% or more than 201% of the state median, and those that are more than 95% white)
• 332 (Screen out cities with high crime, big population declines, significant unemployment or job shrinkage, and long commutes)
• 261 (Rank remaining places based on job growth, income increases, cost of living, housing affordability, school quality, arts and leisure options, safety, medical care, diversity and several ease-of-living criteria)
• 100 (Factor in more data on the economy, jobs, housing prices, schools and taxes)
• 22 (Visit and interview residents, assessing intangibles like sense of community)
• 1 (Select best place to live based on data and findings)

Olathe's section in the report says, "Once a prairie of wildflowers, Olathe has outgrown its sleepy roots with treemendous development: this Kansas City suburb is home to Honeywell, ALDI, Garmin and Farmers Insurance Group."  Olathe Mayor Michael Copeland was quoted in The Olathe News as saying, "There are some great communities around the country.  There are very, very few exceptional communities.  I'm very proud to say Olathe is one of the few exceptional communities in our country.  I'm glad Money Magazine recognizes that as well."

2008 Money Magazine 100 Best Places to Live
Olathe Money Magazine Profile
News Article in The Olathe News
Mayor's Message About the News