Happy New Year! With inflation cooling but still making raising children more costly than usual, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2024’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 50 key indicators of family-friendliness. The data set ranges from the median annual family income to housing affordability to the unemployment rate.
| Best States for Families | Worst States for Families |
| 1. Massachusetts | 41. Arizona |
| 2. North Dakota | 42. South Carolina |
| 3. Minnesota | 43. Oklahoma |
| 4. Nebraska | 44. Nevada |
| 5. New York | 45. Louisiana |
| 6. Maine | 46. Arkansas |
| 7. New Hampshire | 47. Alabama |
| 8. South Dakota | 48. West Virginia |
| 9. Rhode Island | 49. Mississippi |
| 10. Vermont | 50. New Mexico |
Best vs. Worst
- Utah has the lowest separation & divorce rate, 1.7 times lower than in New Mexico, which has the highest rate.
- New Hampshire has the lowest share of families living in poverty, 3.1 times lower than in Mississippi, which has the highest share.
- South Dakota has the lowest average annual cost of early childcare (as a share of median family income), 2.5 times lower than in New York, which has the highest.
- Maine has the fewest violent crimes per capita, 7.6 times fewer than in New Mexico, which has the most.
