Happy New Year! With fresh starts being top of mind – hiring and single-family home starts are expected to grow in 2018, for instance – the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2018’s Best & Worst States to Raise a Family.
To determine the best states in which to put down family roots, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 42 key indicators of family-friendliness. The data set ranges from median family salary to housing affordability to unemployment rate.
| Best States for Families | Worst States for Families | ||||
| 1 | Massachusetts | 41 | Nevada | ||
| 2 | Minnesota | 42 | Georgia | ||
| 3 | New Hampshire | 43 | Arkansas | ||
| 4 | North Dakota | 44 | South Carolina | ||
| 5 | Vermont | 45 | Oklahoma | ||
| 6 | Wisconsin | 46 | Louisiana | ||
| 7 | New York | 47 | West Virginia | ||
| 8 | Iowa | 48 | Alabama | ||
| 9 | Nebraska | 49 | Mississippi | ||
| 10 | California | 50 | New Mexico | ||
Best vs. Worst
- Minnesota has the highest median family annual income (adjusted for cost of living), $80,399, which is 1.8 times higher than in Hawaii, where it is lowest at $44,295.
- Utah has the lowest divorce rate, 16.18 percent, which is 1.6 times lower than in Nevada, where it is highest at 26.57 percent.
- New Hampshire has the lowest share of families living below the poverty level, 5.3 percent, which is 3.3 times lower than in Mississippi, where it is highest at 17.4 percent.
- Mississippi has the lowest average annual cost of early childcare (adjusted for median family income), 6.15 percent, which is 2.3 times lower than in the New York, where it is highest at 14.12 percent.
- New Hampshire has the lowest infant-mortality rate, 4.18 percent, which is 2.2 times lower than in Mississippi, where it is highest at 9.27 percent.
- Maine has the fewest violent crimes (per 1,000 residents), 1.24, which is 6.5 times fewer than in Alaska, the state with the most at 8.04.
To view the full report and your state’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-states-to-raise-a-family/31065/