Adults consider many factors when they consider the best place to raise a family. Some involve education or recreational facilities. Still others consider crime and other matters of safety or climate. Whether relatives are close by is another factor considered. This cuts two ways, however. Not everyone has a good relationship with parents, siblings, and the like. (If there’s a chance that you’d like to move abroad, these are the least expensive countries to raise a family.)
24/7 Tempo has developed a list of the worst states in which to raise a family, using data compiled by the credit reporting and advice site WalletHub. The site compared states across five key dimensions: family fun, health and safety, education and childcare, affordability, and socio-economics. From this list, we picked the worst one based on those measures. And it’s New Mexico. Mississippi came right behind it. Both scored particularly badly when it comes to socio-economics. (See how many children live in poverty in your state.)
Click here to see the best and worst states to raise a family
In making their calculations, WalletHub evaluated their five dimensions using 52 variously weighted metrics, including share of families with young children, pediatricians per capita, quality of public schools, housing affordability, job opportunities and security, and separation and divorce rate. Data on the total number of families in each state comes from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey one-year estimates.
Source: DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images
1. Massachusetts
> WalletHub score: 60.88
> Top metric: ‘Education & Child Care’ (#3 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,665,005 — #16 highest
[in-text-ad]
Source: LIKE HE / Getty Images
2. Minnesota
> WalletHub score: 60.57
> Top metric: ‘Health & Safety’ (#5 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,401,623 — #22 highest
24/7 Wall St.
Source: rruntsch / Getty Images
3. North Dakota
> WalletHub score: 60.10
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#1 best in the nation)
> Families: 189,509 — #47 highest
Source: FilippoBacci / Getty Images
4. New York
> WalletHub score: 59.80
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#2 best in the nation)
> Families: 4,636,356 — #4 highest
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images
5. Vermont
> WalletHub score: 59.16
> Top metric: ‘Health & Safety’ (#1 best in the nation)
> Families: 156,153 — #49 highest
Source: DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images
6. New Hampshire
> WalletHub score: 58.85
> Top metric: ‘Health & Safety’ (#3 best in the nation)
> Families: 346,413 — #40 highest
[in-text-ad]
Source: Creative-Family / Getty Images
7. New Jersey
> WalletHub score: 58.76
> Top metric: ‘Education & Child Care’ (#1 best in the nation)
> Families: 2,241,555 — #11 highest
Source: aiisha5 / iStock via Getty Images
8. Washington
> WalletHub score: 58.46
> Top metric: ‘Affordability’ (#4 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,882,896 — #13 highest
Source: SeanPavonePhoto / Getty Images
9. Connecticut
> WalletHub score: 55.86
> Top metric: ‘Affordability’ (#2 best in the nation)
> Families: 885,911 — #29 highest
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: Adventure_Photo / Getty Images
10. Utah
> WalletHub score: 55.48
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#2 best in the nation)
> Families: 760,968 — #31 highest
Source: Davel5957 / Getty Images
11. Nebraska
> WalletHub score: 55.47
> Top metric: ‘Health & Safety’ (#9 best in the nation)
> Families: 493,013 — #37 highest
[in-text-ad]
Source: pabradyphoto / Getty Images
12. Iowa
> WalletHub score: 55.37
> Top metric: ‘Health & Safety’ (#8 best in the nation)
> Families: 808,802 — #30 highest
Source: pabradyphoto / Getty Images
13. South Dakota
> WalletHub score: 55.17
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#7 best in the nation)
> Families: 223,964 — #46 highest
Source: Sean Pavone / Getty Images
14. Wisconsin
> WalletHub score: 54.44
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#14 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,470,116 — #19 highest
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: Planet Unicorn / Getty Images
15. Colorado
> WalletHub score: 53.41
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#7 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,421,844 — #21 highest
Source: marchello74 / Getty Images
16. Illinois
> WalletHub score: 53.13
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#3 best in the nation)
> Families: 3,059,067 — #6 highest
[in-text-ad]
Source: SeanPavonePhoto / Getty Images
17. Virginia
> WalletHub score: 51.75
> Top metric: ‘Health & Safety’ (#13 best in the nation)
> Families: 2,094,763 — #12 highest
Source: SeanPavonePhoto / Getty Images
18. Maine
> WalletHub score: 51.72
> Top metric: ‘Health & Safety’ (#4 best in the nation)
> Families: 342,894 — #41 highest
Source: miroslav_1 / Getty Images
19. Montana
> WalletHub score: 51.61
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#6 best in the nation)
> Families: 269,009 — #43 highest
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: Adam-Springer / Getty Images
20. Hawaii
> WalletHub score: 51.37
> Top metric: ‘Health & Safety’ (#2 best in the nation)
> Families: 316,206 — #42 highest
Source: 4nadia / Getty Images
21. Oregon
> WalletHub score: 51.12
> Top metric: ‘Health & Safety’ (#6 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,021,588 — #27 highest
[in-text-ad]
Source: Davel5957 / Getty Images
22. Maryland
> WalletHub score: 50.36
> Top metric: ‘Affordability’ (#12 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,462,070 — #20 highest
Source: f11photo / Getty Images
23. Pennsylvania
> WalletHub score: 49.94
> Top metric: ‘Affordability’ (#7 best in the nation)
> Families: 3,228,224 — #5 highest
Source: SeanPavonePhoto / Getty Images
24. Rhode Island
> WalletHub score: 49.78
> Top metric: ‘Affordability’ (#3 best in the nation)
> Families: 249,987 — #44 highest
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: choness / Getty Images
25. California
> WalletHub score: 49.57
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#1 best in the nation)
> Families: 8,972,643 — #1 highest
Source: aoldman / Getty Images
26. Wyoming
> WalletHub score: 49.08
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#13 best in the nation)
> Families: 152,859 — #50 highest
[in-text-ad]
Source: f11photo / Getty Images
27. Missouri
> WalletHub score: 48.86
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#17 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,546,045 — #18 highest
Source: Sean Pavone / Getty Images
28. Texas
> WalletHub score: 46.91
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#5 best in the nation)
> Families: 6,857,641 — #2 highest
Source: RudyBalasko / Getty Images
29. Kansas
> WalletHub score: 46.43
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#11 best in the nation)
> Families: 733,489 — #33 highest
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: Ronald E Grafe / Getty Images
30. Ohio
> WalletHub score: 45.71
> Top metric: ‘Affordability’ (#13 best in the nation)
> Families: 2,942,581 — #7 highest
Source: RudyBalasko / Getty Images
31. Michigan
> WalletHub score: 45.23
> Top metric: ‘Affordability’ (#8 best in the nation)
> Families: 2,496,550 — #10 highest
[in-text-ad]
Source: mdgmorris / Getty Images
32. Delaware
> WalletHub score: 45.17
> Top metric: ‘Education & Child Care’ (#20 best in the nation)
> Families: 242,584 — #45 highest
Source: sorincolac / Getty Images
33. Alaska
> WalletHub score: 44.86
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#17 best in the nation)
> Families: 163,134 — #48 highest
Source: mattalberts / Getty Images
34. Idaho
> WalletHub score: 44.53
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#9 best in the nation)
> Families: 448,979 — #39 highest
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: Davel5957 / Getty Images
35. Indiana
> WalletHub score: 44.23
> Top metric: ‘Affordability’ (#9 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,639,230 — #17 highest
Source: Sean Pavone / Getty Images
36. Florida
> WalletHub score: 43.33
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#6 best in the nation)
> Families: 5,083,272 — #3 highest
[in-text-ad]
Source: alexeys / Getty Images
37. Kentucky
> WalletHub score: 43.17
> Top metric: ‘Education & Child Care’ (#22 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,129,276 — #25 highest
24/7 Wall St.
Source: RickSause / Getty Images
38. North Carolina
> WalletHub score: 42.69
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#25 best in the nation)
> Families: 2,630,365 — #8 highest
Source: Sean Pavone / Getty Images
39. Tennessee
> WalletHub score: 41.05
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#20 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,727,895 — #15 highest
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: Sean Pavone / Getty Images
40. Georgia
> WalletHub score: 39.90
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#26 best in the nation)
> Families: 2,555,440 — #9 highest
Source: 4kodiak / Getty Images
41. Nevada
> WalletHub score: 38.52
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#4 best in the nation)
> Families: 723,755 — #34 highest
[in-text-ad]
Source: tonda / Getty Images
42. Arizona
> WalletHub score: 38.22
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#12 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,740,704 — #14 highest
Source: SeanPavonePhoto / Getty Images
43. South Carolina
> WalletHub score: 37.97
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#27 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,286,326 — #23 highest
Source: Sean Pavone / Getty Images
44. Alabama
> WalletHub score: 36.33
> Top metric: ‘Affordability’ (#25 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,237,883 — #24 highest
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: Sean Pavone / Getty Images
45. Arkansas
> WalletHub score: 34.83
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#33 best in the nation)
> Families: 755,305 — #32 highest
Source: DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images
46. Oklahoma
> WalletHub score: 34.49
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#37 best in the nation)
> Families: 975,754 — #28 highest
[in-text-ad]
Source: Jaimie Tuchman / Getty Images
47. Louisiana
> WalletHub score: 33.83
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#19 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,113,831 — #26 highest
Source: Sean Pavone / Getty Images
48. West Virginia
> WalletHub score: 33.83
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#29 best in the nation)
> Families: 470,472 — #38 highest
Source: maxmironov / Getty Images
49. Mississippi
> WalletHub score: 29.70
> Top metric: ‘Affordability’ (#35 best in the nation)
> Families: 718,382 — #35 highest
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: Davel5957 / Getty Images
50. New Mexico
> WalletHub score: 28.95
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#38 best in the nation)
> Families: 496,961 — #36 highest
Sponsored: Find a Qualified Financial Advisor
Finding a qualified financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to 3 fiduciary financial advisors in your area in 5 minutes. Each advisor has been vetted by SmartAsset and is held to a fiduciary standard to act in your best interests. If you’re ready to be matched with local advisors that can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Editors' Picks
