'Best Small Cities In America': Just 3 Southland Communities Make Top 200

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – The Southland did not fare well in a new study of the best small cities to live in the nation.

The study released this week the finance website WalletHub examined metrics from 1,322 cities with populations ranging between 25,000 and 100,000 people.

The highest ranked Southern California small city was Yorba Linda, which came in at No. 97 overall. Newport Beach came in at No. 148. Lake Forest was No. 177.

Compton came in ranked No. 1,286. Bell Gardens was No. 1,279.

The top five were Sammamish, Wash., Carmel, Ind., Brentwood, Tenn., Lexington, Mass., and Reading, Mass.

The study used five primary metrics to make the rankings: affordability, economic health, education and health, quality of life and safety.

To see the full results, click here.