2022's Best & Worst States to Raise a Family

 Raising a healthy, stable family sometimes requires moving to a new state. The reasons people choose to move are often similar: career transitions, better schools, financial challenges, or a general desire to change settings. Wants and needs don’t always align in a particular state, though. For instance, a state might offer a low income-tax rate but have a subpar education system. However, families do not need to make these kinds of tradeoffs. They can avoid such problems by knowing which states offer the best combination of qualities that matter most to parents and their kids. That includes more recent concerns like how well the state is handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

To help with the evaluation process, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 51 key indicators of family-friendliness. Our data set ranges from the median annual family income to housing affordability to the unemployment rate.

115050

State	Rank
Massachusetts	1
New York	2
Vermont	3
Minnesota	4
Nebraska	5
New Hampshire	6
Connecticut	7
Washington	8
North Dakota	9
New Jersey	10
Rhode Island	11
Iowa	12
Utah	13
Wisconsin	14
South Dakota	15
Illinois	16
Maine	17
Virginia	18
Colorado	19
Maryland	20
Pennsylvania	21
Montana	22
Hawaii	23
California	24
Oregon	25
Wyoming	26
Kansas	27
Missouri	28
Delaware	29
Texas	30
Ohio	31
Alaska	32
Indiana	33
Idaho	34
Michigan	35
Tennessee	36
North Carolina	37
Kentucky	38
Florida	39
Arizona	40
Georgia	41
Nevada	42
Alabama	43
Arkansas	44
West Virginia	45
Oklahoma	46
South Carolina	47
Louisiana	48
New Mexico	49
Mississippi	50

Best States for Families

Overall Rank	State	Total Score	Family Fun	Health & Safety	Education & Child Care	Affordability	Socio-economics
1	Massachusetts	65.21	9	3	2	2	24
2	New York	61.81	2	8	5	6	46
3	Vermont	59.15	44	1	4	30	1
4	Minnesota	58.79	13	9	22	9	7
5	Nebraska	58.49	17	10	12	14	4
6	New Hampshire	58.38	34	2	9	24	5
7	Connecticut	57.67	29	7	7	1	38
8	Washington	57.58	8	18	26	3	16
9	North Dakota	57.57	31	17	3	15	2
10	New Jersey	57.01	21	14	1	4	41
11	Rhode Island	55.72	28	5	17	5	32
12	Iowa	55.58	32	13	11	7	10
13	Utah	54.98	16	19	15	38	3
14	Wisconsin	54.47	20	23	16	19	11
15	South Dakota	54.39	30	12	13	27	8
16	Illinois	54.06	3	31	21	22	43
17	Maine	53.73	46	4	6	33	14
18	Virginia	53.16	27	11	14	13	17
19	Colorado	53.16	7	29	28	18	18
20	Maryland	52.72	23	15	10	10	30
21	Pennsylvania	51.59	12	27	25	8	27
22	Montana	51.53	39	20	8	43	6
23	Hawaii	51.32	15	6	27	40	21
24	California	51.18	1	32	46	20	42
25	Oregon	50.79	10	24	35	11	20
26	Wyoming	49.76	33	16	19	39	13
27	Kansas	49.30	37	35	23	16	12
28	Missouri	49.12	24	34	20	26	15
29	Delaware	46.63	40	26	18	25	37
30	Texas	46.42	5	47	30	44	44
31	Ohio	45.07	19	30	38	23	40
32	Alaska	45.06	14	33	40	28	23
33	Indiana	44.75	36	37	33	21	19
34	Idaho	44.46	38	21	45	47	9
35	Michigan	44.41	43	25	34	12	39
36	Tennessee	43.85	22	40	32	34	25
37	North Carolina	43.70	26	39	29	37	26
38	Kentucky	43.19	45	28	24	35	33
39	Florida	43.12	6	38	31	50	45
40	Arizona	40.39	11	36	47	48	29
41	Georgia	39.83	25	46	39	42	35
42	Nevada	38.96	4	45	49	49	49
43	Alabama	38.34	47	44	41	17	31
44	Arkansas	37.91	48	43	36	29	28
45	West Virginia	37.69	50	22	43	41	22
46	Oklahoma	37.19	41	48	44	36	34
47	South Carolina	37.09	42	41	42	46	36
48	Louisiana	34.66	18	49	48	31	50
49	New Mexico	30.79	35	42	50	45	48
50	Mississippi	30.47	49	50	37	32	47

Note: With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that state, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.

Ask the Experts

Not all states are created equal. Some are more conducive to pleasant family life than others. With those differences in mind, we asked a panel of experts to share their thoughts on the following key questions:

1. What should families consider when choosing a place to set down roots?
2. To what degree is a child’s development and a family’s quality of life influenced by the state in which they live? How?
3. How can authorities make their states more attractive to young families?
4. How might Biden’s proposals related to child care and paid family leave affect child and family well-being?
5. In evaluating the best states for families, what are the top five indicators?