New York City ranked the 57th most family-friendly city in the U.S.
Families in Central Park’s Sheep Meadow, photo courtesy of ep_jhu on Flickr
As the average cost of childcare grows across the United States, raising a family can be difficult anywhere, which is why personal finance website WalletHub analyzed the country’s 150 most populated cities and ranked them in terms of family friendliness, based on key metrics like safety, education, and housing affordability. While it comes as no surprise that NYC ranks nearly last for affordability and the median family salary, it ties with Chicago for first place with the highest number of playgrounds per capita and most family-fun attractions. Overall, New York City ranked 57 out of 150.
New York came in 150th for median family salary, which was adjusted for cost of living, and 148th for housing affordability. Plus, it was ranked 107th for the percentage of families living below the poverty level and 117th for the percentage of two-parent families.
However, the many free events and activities that NYC offers, especially for kids, make it an attractive destination for families to settle down. According to the analysis, the city comes in third for “family fun.” In a tie with Chicago, NYC comes in first for most playgrounds and most attractions.
To discover which U.S. cities are the best for families, analysts from WalletHub looked at the cities across five major dimensions: family fun, health and safety, education and childcare, affordability and socioeconomics. Every category included 41 relevant metrics, graded on a 100-point scale. A city that scored a 100 has the most favorable conditions for families.
New York City scored 55.63 out of 100 points. According to the analysts, the top three places to raise a family include Overland Park, Kansas, Madison, Wisconsin and Plano, Texas. Read the full report from WalletHub here.
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