Best Cities to Raise a Family

Zumper, an online marketplace for landlords and renters (both longer-term and Airbnb units), just released its latest study on the best cities nation-wide to raise children. Madison, WI ranked number one; cities in the Midwest and South dominated the nine remaining top ten slots.

Zumper identified several key factors important to families with children. Among those factors were median incomes, housing costs, unemployment rates, the percentage of income spent on mortgages and/or rental rates, cost of infant/child care, crime rates, high school dropout rates, and the percentage of the population under 45.

Sources used to quantify those factors for this study included the US Census Bureau, the American Community Survey, Child Care Aware, the FBI Reporting Division and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Take a look at Zumper’s Top 10 Cities for Families with Children:

1. Madison WI
   2. Lowest unemployment rate of just 2.1%
   3. Lowest high school dropout rate
   4. An average commute time of 20 minutes
2. Lincoln NB
   1. Low mortgage costs to income rate
   2. Low crime rate
3. Lexington KY
   1. Low costs of infant/child care
   2. Low housing costs
   3. Low crime rate
4. Boise ID
   1. Low housing costs
   2. Low cost of infant/child care
   3. Short commute times
5. Tallahassee FL
   1. Low rental rates
   2. Large population of people under 45
   3. Quality museums
6. Raleigh NC
   1. Strong local economy
   2. Large population of people under 45
7. Omaha NB
   1. Low housing costs
   2. Short commute times
8. Des Moines IO
   1. Low housing costs
   2. Low crime rates
   3. Short commute times
9. Austin TX
   1. Low unemployment rate
   2. High median income rate
10. Lubbock TX
    1. Low mortgage rates
    2. Shortest commute times of ALL cities

Let’s also take a look at Zumper’s Worst 10 Cities for Families with Children: (Higher mortgage rates/living costs, more expensive infant/child care costs and longer commute times are among the reasons cities fell into this “worst” category.)

1. Chicago IL
   1. High housing costs
   2. High crime rates l
   3. Long commute times
2. Oakland CA
   1. High l=housing costs
   2. High crime rates
   3. High school dropout rate high
3. Newark NJ
   1. Low median income rate
   2. High crime rates
   3. Long commute times
4. Buffalo NYH
   1. High school dropout rate high
   2. High unemployment rate
   3. High crime rate
5. San Francisco CA
   1. High housing costs
   2. Long commute times
   3. Large population of people over 45
6. Philadelphia PN
   1. High housing costs
   2. Low median income
   3. Long commutes
7. Cleveland OH
   1. High unemployment rate
   2. Low median income
   3. High crime rates
8. Las Vegas NV
   1. High unemployment rate
   2. Large population of people over 45
9. Detroit MI
   1. High housing costs
   2. High school dropout rate high
   3. Low median income
10. Baltimore MY
    1. High housing costs
    2. High unemployment rate
    3. High crime rates

For full study results, go to…

https://www.zumper.com/blog/2018/08/the-best-cities-to-raise-a-family/