This Is the Worst State to Raise a Family

By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Dec 15, 2:51PM EST · Published Dec 14, 2:00PM EST

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This Is the Worst State to Raise a Family — © RyanJLane / E+ via Getty Images

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.

1. Massachusetts
> WalletHub score: 60.88
> Top metric: ‘Education & Child Care’ (#3 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,665,005 — #16 highest

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2. Minnesota
> WalletHub score: 60.57
> Top metric: ‘Health & Safety’ (#5 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,401,623 — #22 highest

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3. North Dakota
> WalletHub score: 60.10
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#1 best in the nation)
> Families: 189,509 — #47 highest

4. New York
> WalletHub score: 59.80
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#2 best in the nation)
> Families: 4,636,356 — #4 highest

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5. Vermont
> WalletHub score: 59.16
> Top metric: ‘Health & Safety’ (#1 best in the nation)
> Families: 156,153 — #49 highest

6. New Hampshire
> WalletHub score: 58.85
> Top metric: ‘Health & Safety’ (#3 best in the nation)
> Families: 346,413 — #40 highest

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7. New Jersey
> WalletHub score: 58.76
> Top metric: ‘Education & Child Care’ (#1 best in the nation)
> Families: 2,241,555 — #11 highest

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8. Washington
> WalletHub score: 58.46
> Top metric: ‘Affordability’ (#4 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,882,896 — #13 highest

9. Connecticut
> WalletHub score: 55.86
> Top metric: ‘Affordability’ (#2 best in the nation)
> Families: 885,911 — #29 highest

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10. Utah
> WalletHub score: 55.48
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#2 best in the nation)
> Families: 760,968 — #31 highest

11. Nebraska
> WalletHub score: 55.47
> Top metric: ‘Health & Safety’ (#9 best in the nation)
> Families: 493,013 — #37 highest

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12. Iowa
> WalletHub score: 55.37
> Top metric: ‘Health & Safety’ (#8 best in the nation)
> Families: 808,802 — #30 highest

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13. South Dakota
> WalletHub score: 55.17
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#7 best in the nation)
> Families: 223,964 — #46 highest

14. Wisconsin
> WalletHub score: 54.44
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#14 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,470,116 — #19 highest

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15. Colorado
> WalletHub score: 53.41
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#7 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,421,844 — #21 highest

16. Illinois
> WalletHub score: 53.13
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#3 best in the nation)
> Families: 3,059,067 — #6 highest

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17. Virginia
> WalletHub score: 51.75
> Top metric: ‘Health & Safety’ (#13 best in the nation)
> Families: 2,094,763 — #12 highest

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18. Maine
> WalletHub score: 51.72
> Top metric: ‘Health & Safety’ (#4 best in the nation)
> Families: 342,894 — #41 highest

19. Montana
> WalletHub score: 51.61
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#6 best in the nation)
> Families: 269,009 — #43 highest

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20. Hawaii
> WalletHub score: 51.37
> Top metric: ‘Health & Safety’ (#2 best in the nation)
> Families: 316,206 — #42 highest

21. Oregon
> WalletHub score: 51.12
> Top metric: ‘Health & Safety’ (#6 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,021,588 — #27 highest

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22. Maryland
> WalletHub score: 50.36
> Top metric: ‘Affordability’ (#12 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,462,070 — #20 highest

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23. Pennsylvania
> WalletHub score: 49.94
> Top metric: ‘Affordability’ (#7 best in the nation)
> Families: 3,228,224 — #5 highest

24. Rhode Island
> WalletHub score: 49.78
> Top metric: ‘Affordability’ (#3 best in the nation)
> Families: 249,987 — #44 highest

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25. California
> WalletHub score: 49.57
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#1 best in the nation)
> Families: 8,972,643 — #1 highest

26. Wyoming
> WalletHub score: 49.08
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#13 best in the nation)
> Families: 152,859 — #50 highest

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27. Missouri
> WalletHub score: 48.86
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#17 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,546,045 — #18 highest

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28. Texas
> WalletHub score: 46.91
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#5 best in the nation)
> Families: 6,857,641 — #2 highest

29. Kansas
> WalletHub score: 46.43
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#11 best in the nation)
> Families: 733,489 — #33 highest

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30. Ohio
> WalletHub score: 45.71
> Top metric: ‘Affordability’ (#13 best in the nation)
> Families: 2,942,581 — #7 highest

31. Michigan
> WalletHub score: 45.23
> Top metric: ‘Affordability’ (#8 best in the nation)
> Families: 2,496,550 — #10 highest

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32. Delaware
> WalletHub score: 45.17
> Top metric: ‘Education & Child Care’ (#20 best in the nation)
> Families: 242,584 — #45 highest

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33. Alaska
> WalletHub score: 44.86
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#17 best in the nation)
> Families: 163,134 — #48 highest

34. Idaho
> WalletHub score: 44.53
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#9 best in the nation)
> Families: 448,979 — #39 highest

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35. Indiana
> WalletHub score: 44.23
> Top metric: ‘Affordability’ (#9 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,639,230 — #17 highest

36. Florida
> WalletHub score: 43.33
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#6 best in the nation)
> Families: 5,083,272 — #3 highest

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37. Kentucky
> WalletHub score: 43.17
> Top metric: ‘Education & Child Care’ (#22 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,129,276 — #25 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 — #8 highest

39. Tennessee
> WalletHub score: 41.05
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#20 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,727,895 — #15 highest

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40. Georgia
> WalletHub score: 39.90
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#26 best in the nation)
> Families: 2,555,440 — #9 highest

41. Nevada
> WalletHub score: 38.52
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#4 best in the nation)
> Families: 723,755 — #34 highest

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42. Arizona
> WalletHub score: 38.22
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#12 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,740,704 — #14 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 — #23 highest

44. Alabama
> WalletHub score: 36.33
> Top metric: ‘Affordability’ (#25 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,237,883 — #24 highest

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45. Arkansas
> WalletHub score: 34.83
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#33 best in the nation)
> Families: 755,305 — #32 highest

46. Oklahoma
> WalletHub score: 34.49
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#37 best in the nation)
> Families: 975,754 — #28 highest

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47. Louisiana
> WalletHub score: 33.83
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#19 best in the nation)
> Families: 1,113,831 — #26 highest

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48. West Virginia
> WalletHub score: 33.83
> Top metric: ‘Socio-economics’ (#29 best in the nation)
> Families: 470,472 — #38 highest

49. Mississippi
> WalletHub score: 29.70
> Top metric: ‘Affordability’ (#35 best in the nation)
> Families: 718,382 — #35 highest

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50. New Mexico
> WalletHub score: 28.95
> Top metric: ‘Family Fun’ (#38 best in the nation)
> Families: 496,961 — #36 highest

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.