2017’s Best and Worst Places to Raise a Family

You’ve been lucky enough to find the love of your life, and now you’re in the process of building an undoubtedly adorable family. We know how important it is to put down the right kinds of roots for you and your little tribe, and we want to help you do just that.

Building a home for your family is about more than just finding your dream house and filling it with all of your favorite design flair (Mandy Moore’s new boho decor line, anyone?). In the words of every realtor ever, it’s all about “location, location, location,” so your said dream house better be situated in a spot where you and your family can really thrive. We can certainly advise you based on our experience with HGTV (obviously, you should move to Waco, TX to hang with Jo) or our favorite vacation spots, but these are serious decisions, so it’s probably best to defer to the experts. Luckily for us, the analysts at WalletHub recently put their heads together to compile a list of the best places to raise a family.

Source: WalletHub

WalletHub’s team looked at the 150 most populated cities in the US and, using data from the census and other government agencies, compared them based on 41 key metrics. Among the factors considered were cost of living, school quality, health care, crime, and divorce rate. WalletHub also accounted for playgrounds per capita, local attractions, and other recreational measures, combining them to create a “Family Fun” rank. Is it cool if we make all of our decisions based on that?

While WalletHub considered lots of information in creating these rankings, analyst Jill Gonzalez cautions young families against thinking the list captures every element of life in each city. “It’s important to note that this is a quantitative report,” she says. “It does not take into consideration qualitative factors.”

Gonzalez’s other advice for families looking to relocate? “Young families tend to overestimate the popularity of a certain city, considering that if a city is well known and attracts a lot of newcomers and tourists, it will also be a good fit for a young family with small children. Unfortunately, that is not the case, as our research has shown.” Rather than focusing on the flash, the WalletHub rep recommends that families scoping out a new city pay attention to “what their taxes are getting them, especially when it comes to the healthcare and school systems.”

Scroll down for the top 10 best (and worst!) cities of the year for families, according to WalletHub’s research.

best cities for families

worst cities for families

Does your city deserve a spot on the list of best places to raise a family? Tweet us @BritandCo!

(Featured photo via Getty)