SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A Toronto-based magazine has ranked Yellowknife 48th overall as the best place to live in a list of 154 of Canada's communities.

Yellowknife finished 31 places above Toronto and 52 places ahead of Montreal, but 23 places behind Whitehorse.

In the summer issue of MoneySense, cities were ranked on a host of categories ranging from crime, health care services, average household income and lifestyle, including transit use and those who walk or bike to work.

Yellowknife ranked near the bottom in crime, 152nd and 150th for crime rate and violent crime rate, respectively. For weather, Yellowknife ranked 22nd for the average number of snow or rain days annually, but ranked third worst for days below zero with 222.2 in a year.

Councillor Mark Heyck said the categories the magazine used to rank cities were a bit "bizarre."

"It seems the things they rank are fairly comprehensive and just looking at the rankings there are things that seem way out of whack," he said.

He said the fact cities lose points because of a cold climate put a city like Yellowknife at an unfair disadvantage.

"A quarter of the points come from weather rankings in terms of rain and snow so clearly Yellowknife is going to be at a disadvantage," he said.

He added crime rates for smaller communities are not a fair representation.

"Just given the way rates are calculated, if you have one more violent crime than last year, then your rate shoots up many percentage points - so those types of things can be a bit misleading."

Ranking number four on the list for average household income, Yellowknife households average an annual income of $127,500, more than double the $56,729 average in Montreal.

Almost 25 per cent of residents walk or bike to work, the best rate in the country, far higher than Canmore, Alta., a distant second with just over 18 per cent.

Heyck said how Yellowknife ranked in commuting isn't surprising, but the limited look at the cost of living shortchanges the city.

"They consider average housing prices and it's the only thing related to cost of living, so we're going to rank lower on the affordable housing level because of construction costs and location," he said.