Lifestyle

How Family-Friendly is Texas?

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Tony Maples Photography

 

How does where you live rate as a family-friendly place? It may come as no surprise, but location plays a big role in how a family will be raised. This is why many couples, finally set on settling down, move. Types of employment, the quality and availability of public education, and tax rate are all things that factor into a family-friendly place to live.

Wallet Hub conducted a study of all 50 states and the District of Columbia rating how family-friendly they were. Each state was evaluated across 40 key domains. Let’s see how they all stacked up.

Family Friendly

Photo: Flickr/FollowYour Nose

According to the study, North Dakota was ranked as the most family friendly state. With high rankings in the “Family Fun,” “Education and Child Care” and “Affordability” categories, it clenched the number one spot. Rounding out the top five were: New Hampshire (#2), Vermont (#3), Minnesota (#4) and Nebraska (#5). Vermont also scored #1 in the “Health and Safety” category.

At the bottom of the list was New Mexico, which received low marks in the “Heath and Safety” and “Education and Child Care” categories. Rounding out the bottom five were: Nevada (#47), Louisiana (#48), District of Columbia (#49) and Mississippi (#50). Mississippi also was rated at 50th in the affordability category.

Family Cattle Drive

Photo: Flickr/Billy Gast

Some of the interesting statistics category- by- category were: Iowa receiving the #1 ranking for Most Affordable Housing, District of Columbia being ranked at #51. Mississippi was ranked #1 with the Lowest Child Care Costs. District of Columbia again was ranked at #51 in this category. Vermont was #1 in the Lowest Violent Crime per Capita, with District of Columbia ranked #51

How did Texas stack up amid the rankings? Overall, The Lone Star State ranked at #29, which is the middle of the pack when it comes to family- friendliness. In the Percentage of Kids with Families, Texas was ranked at #3. Texas came in at 17th for Child Care Costs and the Affordable Housing categories.