People & places
Population: U.S. Census 2009 American Community Survey
Age: U.S. Census 2009 American Community Survey
Family Size: U.S. Census 2009 American Community Survey
Race: U.S. Census 2009 American Community Survey
Snow: Forbes.com, Jan. 12, 2011; based on 50 years of snowfall data from National Climatic Data Center
Median Household Income: U.S. Census 2009 American Community Survey
Gayness: The Advocate, February 2011; The magazine identified a number of gay signifiers for each city, assigned points for each, added them up and divided the raw scores by the population.
Born in the U.S.: U.S. Census 2009 American Community Survey
'Land Mass: U.S. Census 2009 American Community Survey
Home
Affordable Rent: U.S. Census 2009 American Community Survey
Affordable Housing: U.S. Census 2009 American Community Survey
Cost to Coast: U.S. Census 2009 American Community Survey
This Old House: U.S. Census 2009 American Community Survey
Vacant Housing: U.S. Census 2009 American Community Survey
Owner-Occupied Homes: U.S. Census 2009 American Community Survey
Work
How We Spend Our Days: U.S. Census 2009 American Community Survey
Job Market: Monster.com, Jan. 21, 2011; ranking based on the relative abundance of job openings for the given local workforce
Commuting: Kiplinger's Personal Finance, 10 Best Cities for Commuters, 2011; based on population, average commute time, yearly congestion cost per commuter, average length of commute, cost of regular gas, yearly delays per commuter, yearly fuel waste per commuter and public transit users
Romance
Finding Love: The Daily Beast (thedailybeast.com), Feb. 6, 2011, "50 Best Cities for Love"; For more information, visit thedailybeast.com.
Dating: Axe deodorant "America's Best and Worst Cities for Dating" survey; The 2009 survey used 24 distinct criteria that included but was not limited to population density, percentage of singles, frequency of hooking up (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention information about frequency of sexual partners), dating venues (coffee shops, bars), intimate apparel stores, and flowers and jewelry bought as gifts.
Technology
Online Crime Risk: Software creator Symantec, March 2010; based on Symantec's own data about online attacks, malware infections and third-party data about online behavior and Internet availability
Social Networking: Men's Health, March 2011; measured LinkedIn and Facebook users per capita and overall Twitter usage. The study also quantified traffic from MySpace, Friendster, Reddit and Digg.
Environment
Sustainability: SustainLane.com's most recent (2008) city rankings
Local Food and Agriculture: SustainLane.com's most recent (2008) city rankings; For more information, visit sustainlane.com.
Pollution: American Lung Association State of the Air 2011
Education
Smarts: The Daily Beast, Oct. 24, 2010; For more information, visit thedailybeast.com.
High School Graduates: U.S. Census 2009 American Community Survey
College Attainment: U.S. Census 2009 American Community Survey
Philanthropy
Total Foundations: The Foundation Center; foundationcenter.org
Volunteering: Volunteering in America, 2009; For more information, visit volunteeringinamerica.gov.
Money Matters: The Foundation Center, foundationcenter.org
Health
Old Habits Die Hard: County Health Rankings; For more information, visit countyhealthrankings.org.
Emergency Care: HealthGrades, April 12, 2011; For more information, visit healthgrades.com.
Obesity: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009 survey
Overweight: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009 survey
Spirited Debate: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009 survey
Unhappiness: Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Feb. 26, 2009; For more information, visit businessweek.com.
Health Insurance: U.S. Census 2009 American Community Survey
Recreation
Park Place: The Trust for Public Land's 2010 City Park Facts
