WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Raising a family can sometimes involve moving to another state. To help compare states and ease the evaluation process, WalletHub compared all 50 states across 51 key indicators of family-friendliness.
The rankings from the 2023’s Best & Worst States to Raise a Family study looked at factors across five key factors: family fun, health and safety, education and child care, affordability, and socio-economics. These were all scaled to determine each state’s place.
WalletHub ranks Kansas 29 of 50, just behind Missouri but ahead of Delaware.
Interactive map:
2023’s Best & Worst States to Raise a Family:
- Massachusetts
- Minnesota
- New York
- North Dakota
- Vermont
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- Nebraska
- Iowa
- Connecticut
- Rhode Island
- Washington
- Illinois
- South Dakota
- Utah
- Maine
- Wisconsin
- Pennsylvania
- Maryland
- Colorado
- Virginia
- California
- Hawaii
- Oregon
- Montana
- Texas
- Wyoming
- Missouri
- Kansas
- Delaware
- Ohio
- Florida
- Tennessee
- Indiana
- Idaho
- Michigan
- Kentucky
- Alaska
- North Carolina
- Nevada
- Arizona
- Georgia
- Oklahoma
- Arkansas
- Alabama
- South Carolina
- Louisiana
- West Virginia
- New Mexico
- Mississippi
What should families consider when choosing a place to set down roots?
“Families’ primary roles are socialization; therefore, I think that families settle in places that adequately suit their immediate and future needs of socializing their children and preparing them to navigate their social world. For example, if you have young children and intend to have more children (particularly of an age where they cannot be unattended), thinking about areas that offer quality child care (via relatives or facilities) and places for social interaction would be ideal unless one partner is a stay-at-home parent,” said Professor of Sociology Dr. Alicia D. Bonaparte. “In the latter instance, it would be useful to consider places that allow for children to explore and for parents to be able to meet with and create play dates with other parents to create community. This creation of community is important to the socialization process and allows for families to develop stability in their family life.”
To view the full report from WalletHub, click here.
