Raising a healthy, stable family sometimes requires moving to a new state. And the reasons for moving 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.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has made moving difficult at the moment, a vaccine is on the horizon. Hopefully by late 2021, families can start considering moving to a state that will better fit their needs and desires.
To help with the evaluation process, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 52 key indicators of family-friendliness. Our data set ranges from the median annual family income to housing affordability to the unemployment rate.
| Overall Rank | State | Total Score | ‘Family Fun’ | ‘Health & Safety’ | ‘Education & Child Care’ | ‘Affordability’ | ‘Socio-economics’ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts | 60.88 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 21 |
| 2 | Minnesota | 60.57 | 14 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 5 |
| 3 | North Dakota | 60.10 | 33 | 7 | 2 | 14 | 1 |
| 4 | New York | 59.80 | 2 | 21 | 6 | 5 | 47 |
| 5 | Vermont | 59.16 | 40 | 1 | 5 | 27 | 4 |
| 6 | New Hampshire | 58.85 | 31 | 3 | 12 | 10 | 3 |
| 7 | New Jersey | 58.76 | 18 | 26 | 1 | 1 | 19 |
| 8 | Washington | 58.46 | 8 | 11 | 23 | 4 | 16 |
| 9 | Connecticut | 55.86 | 29 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 28 |
| 10 | Utah | 55.48 | 13 | 20 | 16 | 34 |