15 Best U.S. Cities to Raise a Family: 2024

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American families move a lot; indeed, the average person will move a dozen times in a lifetime, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2023, some 26 million Americans did so.

Relocating can be prompted by a new job or long-term wealth accumulation, according to a recent report from the personal finance website WalletHub. It may also be necessitated by foreclosure or job loss.

“Finding the best place to raise a family is difficult, between balancing an affordable cost of living with good educational opportunities, safety and enough recreation to keep kids entertained,” WalletHub analyst Cassandra Happe said in a statement.

“On top of all of these factors, people also often want to raise their children close to their extended family. Therefore, current or prospective parents can benefit from narrowing down their choices to a few of the best cities that are within a reasonable drive of their family.”

To identify which localities are most conducive to family life, WalletHub compared 182 U.S. cities — including the 150 most populated ones, plus at least two of the most populated ones in each state — across these key dimensions: 

Family fun, including ideal weather, share of families with young children, recreation friendliness and walkability
Health and safety, including violent crime and property crime rates per capita, air and water quality, and pediatricians per capita
Education and child care, including school system quality, parental leave policy score, child daycare services per capita and summer learning opportunities per capita 
Affordability, including cost of living, housing affordability and wallet wellness
Socioeconomics, including separation and divorce rate, wealth gap, share of families living in poverty and share receiving food stamps, and foreclosure rate

Researchers evaluated those categories using 45 relevant metrics and graded each one on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for family life. They then determined each city’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score.

See the accompanying gallery for the 15 best places to bring up a family in 2024, according to WalletHub.

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