Special Report
This Is the Worst State to Raise a Family
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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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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