Raising a family is hard. And where you choose to plant roots is one of the most consequential decisions you’ll ever make. (No pressure.) So how can you make sure you’re choosing the best city for you and your kids?
WalletHub has done some of the work for you, as it does every year. Last week, the site published its rankings of the Best Places to Raise a Family in 2021.
For this list, WalletHub scored over 180 U.S. cities, including the 150 most populous, using 48 key metrics. The researchers looked at everything from housing costs to child-friendly entertainment, environmental and health statistics, education, childcare, economics, and more.
Overland Park, Kansas ranked No. 1, followed by Fremont and then Irvine, California. Plano, Texas and Columbia, Maryland rounded out the top five.
Irvine has the lowest percentage of violent crimes per capita. Fremont has the lowest divorce rates and the smallest percentage of families living in poverty.
These were top 20 cities for raising a family in the Golden State:
- Fremont
- Irvine
- Huntington Beach
- San Diego
- San Jose
- San Francisco
- Santa Clarita
- Rancho Cucamonga
- Santa Rosa
- Sacramento
- Chula Vista
- Garden Grove
- Modesto
- Glendale
- Oceanside
- Los Angeles
- Long Beach
- Bakersfield
- Anaheim
- Riverside
List and data were compiled by WalletHub and do not reflect statistics on all cities.