Helena has lots of good jobs to offer, and it doesn’t take long to get to them from home.

Those two factors — strong employment and short commute times — helped the Queen City to a No. 5 ranking on a list of small towns that offer the country’s best quality of life without the hassles of city living.

A ranking of “America’s dreamtowns” by bizjournals.com ranked Helena fifth out of 140 “micropolitan” areas, or cities with populations between 10,000 and 50,000 and their surrounding areas.

Communities earning high scores had light traffic, healthy economies, a moderate cost of living, adequate housing stock, strong educational systems and easy access to big-city attractions.

“I think it’s good because it reinforces what we’ve all known already, that we do have a high quality of life,” said Cathy Burwell, president of the Helena Area Chamber of Commerce. “And if nothing else, it makes people who already live here appreciate living in Helena.”

Helena was one of three Montana cities in the top 10, behind No. 2 Bozeman and just ahead of sixth-ranked Kalispell. Torrington, Conn., in the northwest corner of that state, topped the list.

G. Scott Thomas, demographics editor for bizjournals.com who compiled the study, said the city’s large public sector work force plays in Helena’s favor.

“With the state capital situated there, you’ve got a nice, stable employer that pays well, and that’s something a lot of small communities don’t have,” he said.

Helena was also helped by an average commute time to work of just over 16 minutes, third-shortest among the 140 communities in the study.

Thomas noted that several hundred families each year leave large cities to settle in places like Helena. While there’s similar migration in the other direction, he said, it’s nonetheless telling that so many people each year choose small-town life.

He wasn’t surprised that Montana cities made up nearly a third of the top 10.

“The reason is our formula rewards places with strong educational systems like you’ve got out there,” he said. “And population growth is a plus, and that’s certainly something you’re seeing.”

Helena ranked 27th in the same study two years ago, though that edition included more than three times as many cities. Burwell said the ongoing recognition is good, particularly as the housing market has cooled.

“We’ve got nice, steady growth, and that makes for a healthy community,” she said.

Burwell noted that the chamber mailed out some 6,000 relocation packets to prospective Helenans a year ago, more than 10 times as many as were requested a decade ago.

Reporter John Harrington: 447-4080 or john.harrington@helenair.com.