Connor Goulet, of East Grand Rapids, left, and his crew member Keegan Cox, of East Grand Rapids, right, compete during a practice race on Reeds Lake as part of last year's Butterfly Junior Nationals. High family incomes and natural resources like the lake are among the amenities that make East Grand Rapids one of the country's best places to raise kids, according to Kiplinger.com.

EAST GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The public school is noted for “its high exam scores and focus on advanced classes.” The average family income is much higher than the national norm. And there are opportunities for family fun, both in town and around the area.

So says Kiplinger.com, which has ranked East Grand Rapids fifth in a list of "10 Great Cities to Raise Your Kids."

Recognition of the community that inspired the "American Pie" movies comes one month after Forbes named the entire Grand Rapids metropolitan area the No. 1 place to raise a family.

Kiplinger mined census data to whittle the country down to 10 metro areas with low crime, lots of kids under age 18 and household incomes high in relation to cost of living – “not the cheapest places to live, but rather places where earnings potential is more than adequate to cover a family’s expenses.”

RELATED: Grand Rapids' family-raising secret: Big-city living with small-town feel

The website then targeted specific cities in each metro area based on education, including public spending per student and school performance, and “fun factors” such as the availability of public parks, playgrounds and libraries. Kiplinger “also looked at each city’s average income for families - as opposed to median income for all households - to give a realistic sense of how much it can cost a family to live in a place with so many kid-centric benefits.”

The finding: “Great schools are a big draw in East Grand Rapids.” And “Grand Rapids’ upscale neighbor isn’t a bad place to make a living, either," the article states.

“East Grand Rapids really, really stood out in two categories in particular,” said Caitlin Dewey, an associate editor with Kiplinger. “The first is the average income (more than 70 percent above the national norm). The other thing is, demographically, East Grand Rapids is like the perfect place for raising kids because 44 percent of households have kids under 18 (whereas the national average is 30 percent).

“The numbers don’t lie.”

The articles states that “the average family income (of $142,329) is substantially higher than the national average, and the fat paychecks seem even fatter thanks to western Michigan's ultra-low living costs."

The article goes on to state that “families will find big yards and familiar neighbors on the tree-lined streets around Reeds Lake, the popular park near the city's center" that is pictured in a slide show.

"There's even more family-friendly stuff to do outside of town," the article continues. "Grand Rapids is home to a zoo and a children's museum, and the Lake Michigan shoreline lies a mere 30 minutes away."

City Manager Brian Donovan called it "an honor" to be recognized by Kiplinger. He pointed to the community's schools, recreation programs, parks and playgrounds.

“Having raised my three kids here…it’s a great community to be a kid,” Donovan said. “I was always grateful that my kids could walk to school. Their friends were within walking distance. They could go swimming in a pool that was a bike ride away.

"To me, that’s what growing up is.”

Mayor Amna Seibold emphasized that the city's "walkability" gives it a sense of community so "you don’t feel like it’s just a group of houses out in the country somewhere.” She also gave props to Grand Rapids.

“I don’t think you can undermine the proximity to the city of Grand Rapids," Seibold said. "The fact that we have access to so much arts and entertain and a vibrant business community...we are connected at the hip to Grand Rapids.”

Kiplinger.com ranked Omaha, Neb. first, followed by Richland, Wash., Suwanee, Ga. and Thousand Oaks, Calif. Rounding out the top 10 behind East Grand Rapids are Appleton, Wisc., Sunnyvale, Calif., Middletown, N.Y., Corona, Calif. and Stamford, Conn. Omaha also made the Forbes list, as did the Poughkeepsie, N.Y. metro area that includes Middletown.

In another Kiplinger.com ranking, Kalamazoo recently was named one of the "10 Best Cities for Cheapskates."

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