“It takes a village to raise a child” is an old proverb, probably of African origin, that reflects the importance of community for families. Millennials — the generation born between 1981 and 1996 — are now at the age when they’re having children and are reassessing where and how they want to live and work, at least in part because of the COVID-19 pandemic and perhaps their newfound ability to telecommute. (Read how every state’s population has changed since 2010.)
24/7 Tempo has developed a list of the best and 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 child care; affordability; and socio-economics.
The dimensions were evaluated 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.)
Click here to see the best and worst states to raise a family
The top-ranked states are Massachusetts and Minnesota, both liberal places proud of their civic engagement. Massachusetts has near-universal health insurance, while Minnesota’s politics and culture have been described as “highly progressive by national standards.” Both are among the best-educated states in the nation and are home to numerous universities and colleges.
The bottom-ranked states are New Mexico and Mississippi ranked last, both of which scored badly when it comes to socio-economics. Nevada did rank fourth in the nation for family fun, but other factors dragged it down to No. 41 overall. (These are the states with the best and worst economies.)
50. New Mexico
> WalletHub score: 28.95
> Top metric: Family Fun (#38 best in the nation)
> Families: 496,961 — 15th lowest
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49. Mississippi
> WalletHub score: 29.70
> Top metric: Affordability (#35 best in the nation)
> Families: 718,382 — 16th lowest
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48. West Virginia
> WalletHub score: 33.83
> Top metric: Socio-economics (#29 best in the nation)
> Families: 470,472 — 13th lowest
47. Louisiana
> WalletHub score: 33.83
> Top metric: Family Fun (#19 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,113,831 — 25th lowest
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46. Oklahoma
> WalletHub score: 34.49
> Top metric: Socio-economics (#37 best in the nation)
> Families: 975,754 — 23rd lowest
45. Arkansas
> WalletHub score: 34.83
> Top metric: Socio-economics (#33 best in the nation)
> Families: 755,305 — 19th lowest
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44. Alabama
> WalletHub score: 36.33
> Top metric: Affordability (#25 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,237,883 — 24th highest
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43. South Carolina
> WalletHub score: 37.97
> Top metric: Socio-economics (#27 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,286,326 — 23rd highest
42. Arizona
> WalletHub score: 38.22
> Top metric: Family Fun (#12 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,740,704 — 14th highest
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41. Nevada
> WalletHub score: 38.52
> Top metric: Family Fun (#4 best in the nation)
> Families: 723,755 — 17th lowest
40. Georgia
> WalletHub score: 39.90
> Top metric: Family Fun (#26 best in the nation)
> Families: 2,555,440 — 9th highest
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39. Tennessee
> WalletHub score: 41.05
> Top metric: Socio-economics (#20 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,727,895 — 15th highest
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38. North Carolina
> WalletHub score: 42.69
> Top metric: Family Fun (#25 best in the nation)
> Families: 2,630,365 — 8th highest
37. Kentucky
> WalletHub score: 43.17
> Top metric: Education & Child Care (#22 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,129,276 — 25th highest
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36. Florida
> WalletHub score: 43.33
> Top metric: Family Fun (#6 best in the nation)
> Families: 5,083,272 — 3rd highest
35. Indiana
> WalletHub score: 44.23
> Top metric: Affordability (#9 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,639,230 — 17th highest
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34. Idaho
> WalletHub score: 44.53
> Top metric: Socio-economics (#9 best in the nation)
> Families: 448,979 — 12th lowest
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33. Alaska
> WalletHub score: 44.86
> Top metric: Family Fun (#17 best in the nation)
> Families: 163,134 — 3rd lowest
32. Delaware
> WalletHub score: 45.17
> Top metric: Education & Child Care (#20 best in the nation)
> Families: 242,584 — 6th lowest
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31. Michigan
> WalletHub score: 45.23
> Top metric: Affordability (#8 best in the nation)
> Families: 2,496,550 — 10th highest
30. Ohio
> WalletHub score: 45.71
> Top metric: Affordability (#13 best in the nation)
> Families: 2,942,581 — 7th highest
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29. Kansas
> WalletHub score: 46.43
> Top metric: Socio-economics (#11 best in the nation)
> Families: 733,489 — 18th lowest
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28. Texas
> WalletHub score: 46.91
> Top metric: Family Fun (#5 best in the nation)
> Families: 6,857,641 — 2nd highest
27. Missouri
> WalletHub score: 48.86
> Top metric: Socio-economics (#17 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,546,045 — 18th highest
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26. Wyoming
> WalletHub score: 49.08
> Top metric: Socio-economics (#13 best in the nation)
> Families: 152,859 — the lowest
25. California
> WalletHub score: 49.57
> Top metric: Family Fun (#1 best in the nation)
> Families: 8,972,643 — the highest
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24. Rhode Island
> WalletHub score: 49.78
> Top metric: Affordability (#3 best in the nation)
> Families: 249,987 — 7th lowest
23. Pennsylvania
> WalletHub score: 49.94
> Top metric: Affordability (#7 best in the nation)
> Families: 3,228,224 — 5th highest
22. Maryland
> WalletHub score: 50.36
> Top metric: Affordability (#12 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,462,070 — 20th highest
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21. Oregon
> WalletHub score: 51.12
> Top metric: Health & Safety (#6 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,021,588 — 24th lowest
20. Hawaii
> WalletHub score: 51.37
> Top metric: Health & Safety (#2 best in the nation)
> Families: 316,206 — 9th lowest
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19. Montana
> WalletHub score: 51.61
> Top metric: Socio-economics (#6 best in the nation)
> Families: 269,009 — 8th lowest
18. Maine
> WalletHub score: 51.72
> Top metric: Health & Safety (#4 best in the nation)
> Families: 342,894 — 10th lowest
17. Virginia
> WalletHub score: 51.75
> Top metric: Health & Safety (#13 best in the nation)
> Families: 2,094,763 — 12th highest
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16. Illinois
> WalletHub score: 53.13
> Top metric: Family Fun (#3 best in the nation)
> Families: 3,059,067 — 6th highest
15. Colorado
> WalletHub score: 53.41
> Top metric: Family Fun (#7 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,421,844 — 21st highest
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14. Wisconsin
> WalletHub score: 54.44
> Top metric: Socio-economics (#14 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,470,116 — 19th highest
13. South Dakota
> WalletHub score: 55.17
> Top metric: Socio-economics (#7 best in the nation)
> Families: 223,964 — 5th lowest
12. Iowa
> WalletHub score: 55.37
> Top metric: Health & Safety (#8 best in the nation)
> Families: 808,802 — 21st lowest
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11. Nebraska
> WalletHub score: 55.47
> Top metric: Health & Safety (#9 best in the nation)
> Families: 493,013 — 14th lowest
10. Utah
> WalletHub score: 55.48
> Top metric: Socio-economics (#2 best in the nation)
> Families: 760,968 — 20th lowest
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9. Connecticut
> WalletHub score: 55.86
> Top metric: Affordability (#2 best in the nation)
> Families: 885,911 — 22nd lowest
8. Washington
> WalletHub score: 58.46
> Top metric: Affordability (#4 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,882,896 — 13th highest
7. New Jersey
> WalletHub score: 58.76
> Top metric: Education & Child Care (#1 best in the nation)
> Families: 2,241,555 — 11th highest
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6. New Hampshire
> WalletHub score: 58.85
> Top metric: Health & Safety (#3 best in the nation)
> Families: 346,413 — 11th lowest
5. Vermont
> WalletHub score: 59.16
> Top metric: Health & Safety (#1 best in the nation)
> Families: 156,153 — 2nd lowest
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4. New York
> WalletHub score: 59.80
> Top metric: Family Fun (#2 best in the nation)
> Families: 4,636,356 — 4th highest
3. North Dakota
> WalletHub score: 60.10
> Top metric: Socio-economics (#1 best in the nation)
> Families: 189,509 — 4th lowest
2. Minnesota
> WalletHub score: 60.57
> Top metric: Health & Safety (#5 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,401,623 — 22nd highest
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1. Massachusetts
> WalletHub score: 60.88
> Top metric: Education & Child Care (#3 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,665,005 — 16th highest
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