Looking for a great, cost effective community in which to raise your family? To no surprise, Nebraska has nearly a dozen of Business Week’s just announced Top 50 communities in which to raise kids for less – more than any other state.

These communities feature the right combination of safety, community values, and top notch education—qualities high on most parents’ lists. The magazine worked with real estate researcher OnBoard, based in New York City, to compile data related to five criteria they believe every parent should consider when deciding where to live: test scores, cost of living, recreational and cultural activities, number of schools, and crime risk.

The cost of living criteria stacked communities’ household costs against the national average in terms of what families pays for mortgage, rent, insurance, repairs, maintenance, apparel, education, food and beverages, health, furniture and transportation.

For education, OnBoard counted the number of available public and private schools in the area and compared those schools’ reading and math test scores with each state’s average.

To gauge crime risks, OnBoard weighed each community’s risks of rape, murder, assault, robbery, burglary, larceny, and vehicle theft against the national average risks. 

Nebraska communities and their rankings include:

• No. 5—Arapahoe (pop. 1,028)
• No. 6—Waverly (pop. 2,448)
• No. 17—Lawrence (pop. 312)
• No. 22—Bartlett (pop. 128)
• No. 32—Petersburg (pop. 374)
• No. 36—Newcastle (pop. 299)
• No. 37—Diller (pop. 287)
• No. 38—Oakland (pop. 1,367)
• No. 39—Loomis (pop. 397)
• No. 41—Arlington (pop. 1,197)
• No. 44—Davenport (pop. 339)

To read the special report in its entirety, go to: http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/nov2007/pi20071115_554425.htm?chan=search