Surprise!
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To go to the interactive map, click on the Consumer Affairs link below.
From Consumer Affairs, Dec. 10, 2024:
To determine the best states for raising a family in 2025, ConsumerAffairs compared each state on cost, safety, education, health care and quality of life.
The bottom five states for raising a family are all located in the West and South and face significant challenges in education and quality of life.
- California ranks at the bottom, with poor scores in quality of life, affordability, safety, high child poverty rates, a shortage of libraries and bad air quality.
- Texas follows closely behind, scoring poorly in health care, safety and quality of life. The state has the lowest pediatric health care score, with the highest percentages of uninsured children and families that can’t afford their children’s health care bills.
- New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada round out the bottom, with poor public education and lower rankings in quality of life.
Vermont is the best state to raise a family in. It finished first in quality of life, sixth in child health care access and sixth in education. The top five states for raising a family are Vermont, Maine, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Wyoming.
~E