Marquette #3 Small U.S. City for Families

Quaint, wholesome and hearty — those words could be used to describe the lifestyle and people of just about any city or town in the U.P.

But Forbes magazine has just released a list of what it calls the top 10 best small cities to raise a family.

And Marquette is #3 on the list.

It ranked just behind Dubuque, Iowa and Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

According to Forbes, Marquette and the others on the list have solid average incomes, good educational prospects, low costs, short commute times and high rates of home ownership—all reasons why they rank as the top three small cities in America to raise a family.

You won’t see Beaver Cleaver, the Cosby kids or the Brady Bunch around Marquette, but the foundation for families is as strong as those old t–v shows.

Marquette, like many other area communities in the U.P., offers a good solid place to live with good schools and activities for children, affordable housing, little to no traffic and the ability to earn a living wage.

The five factors in the ranking were based on quality–of–life measures that make living easier for families.

Other cities that made the top 10 — downstate Midland; Marshfield and Stevens Point, Wisconsin; Casper, Wyoming, to which recently deceased former ABC 10 reporter Kelly Meloney moved in 2007; Quincy, Illlinois; Helena, Montana; and Columbus, Indiana.