PIty the poor Boston suburbanite, at least if a new ranking holds water

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Doug Buchanan

Brutus Buckeye, a mascot for the football team from the state with most top suburbs in a new ranking.

Eric Convey

Web Editor- Boston Business Journal

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The folks at Business Insider ranked U.S. suburbs and no Massachusetts town made even the top 50.

Ohio, on the other hand, ran the deck. A dozens cities or towns in the Buckeye State made the list. Minnesota and Wisconsin fared well, too. Michigan had four communities in the top 50.

New England wasn't shut out entirely. Yarmouth, Maine, ranked 42nd.

What gives?

The criteria Business Insider used, as the news outlet freely concedes, put a heavy ranking on housing prices. No shock here: Ohio's a little cheaper than Eastern Massachusetts.

Commutes also were factored in. The average Leawood, Kansas, commuter spends 20.1 minutes in the car per trip to or from work. (That's 20 minutes — as in the time it takes to travel about a quarter mile in downtown Boston during rush hour.

Household income and school quality were part of the mix, but the numbers didn't tilt the outcome in favor of even a Weston or Wellesley.

Bottom line: If you don't care about climate or access to the ocean, and if you prefer nice people to Bostonians, you might want to check out Business Insider's list. The one consolation prize: no suburbs of the website's home city of New York are anywhere to be found on the list.