CARY - Good test scores, low crime rates and even Martha Stewart helped put Cary on Money magazine's list of the country's best placed to live.

Cary was ranked No. 23 on the 2010 list released online last week and which will appear in the magazine's August issue.

Money was impressed by several aspects of Cary in its annual ranking of the best small U.S. cities.

"Cary is even Martha Stewart-approved: The domestic goods tycoon collaborated with developer KB Homes to design and construct her own subdivision within the town," according to Money.

The magazine's staff also singled out Cary for having one of the lowest crime rates in the nation, AAA bond ratings from Moody's and an unemployment rate below the country's average.

Money also cited how Cary is hosting finals in college sports ranging from baseball to tennis as part of the NCAA's Championship City pilot program.

But the magazine did note one drawback for Cary: School overcrowding resulting from fast growth.

"Moving forward, we want to make sure we continue to do those things necessary to make us worthy of this sort of recognition and, above all, keep Cary the kind of place our citizens want it to be," Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht said in a prepared statement.

Chapel Hill was the only other North Carolina municipality to make this year's Money list, coming in at No. 40.

But that may be a product of how the magazine picks which cities to choose each year.

Money alternates between picking cities of under 50,000 people and those up to 300,000 residents.

In 2009, when Money ranked cities of between 8,500 and 50,000 people, Apex made the list at No. 44.

This year, Money ranked only cities between 50,000 and 300,000 people, which knocked Apex out of consideration but put Cary's 130,000 residents in play.

With close to 400,000 people, Raleigh was too large to be considered.

Cary had made Money's list in 2008, coming in No. 16 when the magazine had previously looked at towns between 50,000 and 300,000 people.

Eden Prairie, Minn., topped this year's list.