Best States to Raise a Family 2023 (crime, neighborhood, schools)

[mike0421]

WalletHub recently published this survey. The methodology is as follows:

In order to determine the best states to raise a family, WalletHub compared the 50 states across five key dimensions: 1) Family Fun, 2) Health & Safety, 3) Education & Child Care, 4) Affordability and 5) Socio-economics.

We evaluated those dimensions using 51 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for family life.

Finally, we determined each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order the states.
Family Fun – Total Points: 20
Health & Safety – Total Points: 20
Education & Child Care – Total Points: 20
Affordability – Total Points: 20
Socio-economics – Total Points: 20

There are subcatergories within each of the five. The header at the top would match each of the 5 columns.

The results for overall as follows:


https://wallethub.com/edu/best-state...a-family/31065

1 Massachusetts 66.14 9 5 2 2 22
2 Minnesota 62.07 13 8 12 7 5
3 New York 61.11 2 9 14 6 46
4 North Dakota 59.60 32 16 1 16 1
5 Vermont 59.27 46 1 7 26 2
6 New Hampshire 58.17 36 3 5 22 8
7 New Jersey 58.14 23 13 3 3 25
8 Nebraska 57.95 19 10 6 24 6
9 Iowa 57.05 31 14 9 9 10
10 Connecticut 57.03 29 7 8 1 31
11 Rhode Island 56.95 27 4 19 4 27
12 Washington 56.30 8 23 31 5 19
13 Illinois 55.49 4 29 25 11 45
14 South Dakota 55.45 30 12 11 25 7
15 Utah 55.25 18 19 15 33 4
16 Maine 55.01 45 2 4 32 14
17 Wisconsin 54.86 21 25 13 13 11
18 Pennsylvania 53.89 11 21 24 17 20
19 Maryland 53.39 25 17 10 8 36
20 Colorado 53.34 7 31 32 19 15
21 Virginia 52.60 28 15 17 20 17
22 California 52.04 1 32 45 21 40
23 Hawaii 51.36 15 6 33 40 23
24 Oregon 50.55 10 20 40 14 26
25 Montana 50.49 34 24 18 46 3
26 Texas 49.71 3 47 29 35 44
27 Wyoming 49.60 37 11 16 45 12
28 Missouri 49.21 22 34 23 27 16
29 Kansas 49.21 38 35 22 18 13
30 Delaware 47.91 44 22 21 12 38
31 Ohio 47.69 16 28 36 15 42
32 Florida 47.28 6 39 30 50 35
33 Tennessee 46.17 20 40 26 30 24
34 Indiana 45.77 33 38 27 23 18
35 Idaho 45.74 39 18 43 44 9
36 Michigan 45.51 41 26 41 10 28
37 Kentucky 45.40 43 30 20 28 34
38 Alaska 44.74 17 27 44 37 21
39 North Carolina 43.11 24 37 37 39 29
40 Nevada 41.41 5 42 49 49 48
41 Arizona 40.40 12 36 48 48 33
42 Georgia 40.24 26 46 35 41 41
43 Oklahoma 38.48 40 48 39 31 43
44 Arkansas 38.47 48 45 28 34 32
45 Alabama 37.38 47 44 38 29 37
46 South Carolina 37.16 42 41 46 38 39
47 Louisiana 36.80 14 49 47 36 49
48 West Virginia 34.86 50 33 42 43 30
49 New Mexico 30.78 35 43 50 47 47
50 Mississippi 30.01 49 50 34 42

[Heel82]

People don’t raise families in a state, they raise them in a city.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by Heel82

People don’t raise families in a state, they raise them in a city.

Or a neighborhood. Even within a city/town(or neighborhood), you can have varying experiences.

[Duderino]

Yeah, there's some validity to state rankings, as they can indicate a "prevailing" environment, either socially or politically, for something like raising a family. But at the end of the day, it's absolutely true that individual experiences are hyper-localized in every state.

I also don't never put too much stock in WalletHub. They always have a somewhat ridiculous cauldron of variables that they factor into any ranking, many of which are out of left field (why is the share of children who participate in extracurricular activities fundamental to "education and childcare," for example?)

[arr430]

I bet 99% of the respondents have never been in Mississippi, except maybe to the self-service pump. Even more, never in North Dakota.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by Duderino

Yeah, there's some validity to state rankings, as they can indicate a "prevailing" environment, either socially or politically, for something like raising a family.

yup, state programs and policies that affect everyone such as education, health care, etc.

State-level is a blanket generalization otherwise but it has it's value in some ways.

[18Montclair]

I also question some, I have had horrible experiences in health care in Utah and I happen to think the K-12 schools there really suck, at least that's the experience I have with my relatives that have moved there from CA, complaining incessantly about how it was way better in CA---which I am also dubious about, but the grass is definitely not always greener on the other side. I mean if youre wanting a change of scenery and a fresh start, great, but often there is a trade off.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

yup, state programs and policies that affect everyone such as education, health care, etc.

State-level is a blanket generalization otherwise but it has it's value in some ways.

Definitely

[Serious Conversation]

I'm from Tennessee.

I wouldn't want to raise a family where I'm at. Drugs and crime are a big problem. The politics are becoming more extreme by the week. People are small-minded, generally have not experienced much beyond the area, there are very few good jobs, healthcare is poor, it goes on and on.

I'd be just fine in an affluent suburb of Nashville or Knoxville.

Like everyone said, it's about where you are moreso than the state itself, though I understand how they got to these results.

[509]

If I had to do it over again....

If your LDS, Utah.

If your NOT LDS, Montana.

The joke in Montana is that their primary export is educated kids.

I had a friend that lived in Oregon and moved to Montana. Notice on the WalletHub list Oregon is ONE ahead of Montana.

When he got to Montana the state tested the kids and promptly moved them BACK an entire year in school. Oregon schools are that far behind Montana schools.

WalletHub is click bait. Don't make life decisions based on their click bait.