Rankings

• Highest readiness — Every scored town by readiness. Grades are curved within population band, so a B in a village and a B in a city mean the same rank, not the same number.
• Best price headroom — Towns whose home prices sit near 60% of their metro median: cheap enough to have room, not so cheap that nobody is buying. Ranked by the price-headroom factor, then readiness.
• Best value within an hour of a city — Towns within a 60-minute drive of New York City or a regional hub, ranked by price headroom and then readiness.