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With economic growth and job opportunities factored in:

Colorado springs, CO
Demoines, IA
some in illinois and indianna too, but I don't know any names off hand.

Just based on crime rates, taxes, and cost of living:

Vermillion SD
pretty much any small town that is essentially a suburb of a bigger town in Tenn., as long as it is a separate town with it's own P.D., school system, etc.
pretty much any small town that is essentially a suburb of a bigger town in Tex., as long as it is a separate town with it's own P.D., school system, etc, and isn't close to mexico.
if you don't mind living in the boonies, any town in SD., except where they have gambling and casinos or friction between locals and indian reservations.

There is a website that will ask you what is important to you and what your requirements are and it will spit out a list of the cities that most closely match what you are looking for. I'll see if I can dig it up for you. Actually, after consulting with that website, I may take back what I just said about tennesee. It was either tenn. or NC that had the low taxes/housing/cost of living, I don't remember wich one it was.

Colorado Springs is not a good job market right now, especially high tech related employment - it's where I grew up and I would NEVER live there again, based on how much it has changed in the last ten years - it's a pretty town, lots of touristy things to do, but not recommended for living - the schools are terrible now as well.

Greeley Colorado is home for me now - decent schools, GREAT cost of living (Ft. Collins, Boulder (OK, so ONE major drawback), Denver, Longmont) all under an hour or so away, where it costs easily twice what it does here: small town environment, good local university (Fighting Whities notwithstanding!) - and it's where the Denver Broncos hold training camp, just three blocks from my front door!