12 Best Cities to Raise a Family: 2022

American parents have been heavily burdened by the pandemic. Seventy-one percent of families are still trying to recover financially, and 80% have struggled to balance work and disrupted schooling, according to a recent study from Real Estate Witch, a website that provides information about home buying and selling.

Now that coronavirus case numbers, hospitalizations and restrictions have eased across the country, many parents are eager to reestablish a stable, prosperous life for their families.

New research released this week by Real Estate Witch identified cities that are well-positioned to assist families. These cities are affordable, boast strong education scores, and are diverse and relatively safe.

To determine the best places to raise a family, researchers evaluated economic, educational, social and recreational factors in the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S., using 17 metrics, which they normalized, weighted and combined to calculate the overall score. Relative cost of goods is indexed to a national average price level of 100.

They attributed data points to metropolitan areas as much as possible. For some data points, they used statewide data; for others, data attributed to the largest city in the metropolitan area.

See the gallery for the 12 best American cities in which to raise a family.