Recently, WalletHub ranked states in the U.S. based on a total of 51 factors to determine which state is the most family-friendly.
Some of the key indicators that the study used were affordability, child care costs, divorce rate, median family income and other factors. WalletHub classified these indicators into five broad categories: “1) Family Fun, 2) Health & Safety, 3) Education & Child Care, 4) Affordability and 5) Socio-economics.”
According to the study, Utah was the 15th most family-friend state. The Beehive State has the lowest divorce rate but ranked as 33rd for affordability. Additionally, Utah was found to be the state with the most young families. In 2022, Deseret News reported that Utah was the 13th best state to raise a family.
In the top five states overall to raise a family, WalletHub ranked Massachusetts as the best state to raise a family, followed by Minnesota, New York, North Dakota and Vermont. In the bottom five, the study ranked South Carolina, Louisiana, West Virginia, New Mexico and, as the lowest ranked state, Mississippi.
Among other Western states, Arizona ranked 41st, Colorado ranked 20th, California ranked 22nd and New Mexico ranked 49th. The full rankings are available on WalletHub’s website.
What makes a state family-friendly?
Melissa Barnett, director of Family Studies and Human Development at University of Arizona, told WalletHub that the top five indicators of a great state to raise a family were:
- Early childhood education and care access.
- P{er student K-12 education funding.
- State-earned income tax credit.
- Percentage of the population with health insurance.
- Paid family leave.
Another expert emphasized the importance of affordable housing and other factors like safety and health care. Tovan P. Klein, director of Barnard College Center for Toddler Development, said that the most important factors for determining a great state to raise a family were, “Housing affordability in safe areas; access to quality child care and strong public educational systems; public health- guaranteed access to good medical care; outdoor/recreational and other community recreation availability; safe environments to grow up in where children are safe from violence and harm.”