Never mind California or New York. By some important measures, Des Moines is way ahead of its cooler coastal cousins. A stunning 68% of children under six years old here have no stay-at-home parent, significantly more than in Chicago (53%), Houston (49%), Los Angeles (46%), or New York (51%). And while big burgs like New York and San Francisco flirt with double-digit jobless rates, unemployment in Des Moines is only 3.5%. Companies elsewhere have slashed the benefits and other goodies they piled on in the booming 1990s (theyre expensive, after all). According to the Society of Human Resources Managements annual benefits survey, in the last year alone, the percentage of U.S. companies offering flextime options to employees has dropped from 64% to 55% -- and the percentage of companies allowing telecommuting as a full-time option has dropped from 23% to just 17%. But in Des Moines, companies have only increased their family-friendly perks, making life in Iowas capital city today feel as hip -- and as privileged -- as in Silicon Valley circa 1999. Not bad for a city that just narrowly avoided being named Fort Raccoon in the 1840s.

Of course, it helps to have a local economy thats still on the upswing. A flock of financial-services firms have been settling in Des Moines, attracted by its quality of life, cheap real estate, good public schools, short commute times, and low labor costs. Some 60 insurance companies make their headquarters here.