One Of The Most Expensive Small Towns To Live In Is In New Mexico

One of the top 10 most expensive small towns to live in is in New Mexico, about 360 miles from El Paso. It's also freakin' radioactive.

Lending Tree did the study which used only cities in the USA with populations between 10,000 - 50,000 peeps. The New Mexico town that cracked the top 10 has a population just under 20,000. (2nd smallest on the list.)

Despite its small size, the average price of a home in Los Alamos is comparable to Austin, Texas. (Texas' 5th largest city.)

Los Alamos, New Mexico is the 10th most expensive, "small" town ... population between 10 and 50 thousand ... in the USA . These towns may be tiny but the cost to live in them sure isn't.

Smallest, Most Expensive Town Is Irradiated

Los Alamos, New Mexico is located in northern New Mexico, about 100 miles from Albuquerque.  Despite its "small" town status, living there costs "big" bucks. According to Lending Tree, a home there will set you back about as much as the same house would in Austin - about $452,500.

READ MORE: New Mexico Nuclear Tests

Los Alamos used to be a well, (and purposely), kept secret. This was thanks, mostly, to the Los Alamos laboratory where designers for the Manhattan Project worked to develop the first atomic bomb.

Many of the areas associated with the Manhattan Project ... yep, the operation Oppenheimer was in charge of ... still stand and most are open to the public. Believe it or not, this area is still slightly radioactive thanks to the Manhattan Projects, "projects".

Radioactivity levels here are even higher than levels found at the Trinity Site where the first atomic bomb was actually detonated on White Sands Missile Range in 1945.

For the kind of money it costs to live in Los Alamos, you'd think they would at least de-radiate the place, right?