Massachusetts Ranked #1 as Best State to Raise a Family, But What Cities?

WalletHub did a study ranking the best and worst states to raise a family in 2022… and Massachusetts came in at the top of the list at #1.

In addition to ranking #1 overall, Massachusetts also ranked #3 for education and child care, #6 for affordability, #9 for family fun, #10 for healthy and safety, and #21 for socio-economics. More specifically, it ranked #4 for lowest infant mortality rate.

The study compared the 50 states across 52 key indicators of family-friendliness, including:

• Highest median family income
• Most affordable housing
• Lowest child care cost
• Most families with young kids
• Lowest infant mortality rate
• Fewest violent crimes per capita
• Lowest % of families in poverty
• Lowest separation and divorce rate

After Massachusetts comes Minnesota at #2 as the best state to raise a family, North Dakota at #3, New York at #4, and Vermont at #5. New Mexico landed at the bottom of the list at #50, making it the worst state to raise a family in.

Elite Personal Finance took it one step further and listed the top 10 cities or towns to raise a family in Massachusetts – scroll below for the full list.

• Amherst

  

  Photo by: Shuttstock/Feng Cheng

• Bedford

  

  Photo by: Shutterstock/Wangkun Jia

• Springfield

  

  Photo by: Shutterstock/Sean Pavone

• Northampton

  

  Photo by: Shutterstock/EQRoy

• Franklin

  

  Photo by: Shutterstock/Yingna Cai

• Longmeadow

  

  Photo by: Shutterstock/SevenMaps

• Wilmington

  

  Photo by: Shutterstock/Wangkun Jia

• Winchester

  

  Photo by: Shutterstock/Wangkun Jia

• Lexington

  

  Photo by: Shutterstock/Jay Yuan

• Brookline

  

  Photo by: Shutterstock/Wangkun Jia