If cities had behavior charts taped to the wall, a few would be covered in gold stickers by now. Others? They’d be sent home with a note in the backpack and a firm little “see me after class” from the principal.
That’s the gist of WalletHub’s freshly released 2024 list of the Best & Worst Places to Raise a Family. They sized up 182 U.S. cities using 45 different criteria from how many rec centers you can actually afford to visit, to whether your toddler’s lungs are busy battling smog every morning.
Spoiler alert: Fremont, California is the teacher’s pet again.
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Fremont’s got the good crayons
Fremont sits pretty at #1 and not by accident. Low crime. High incomes. Clean air. Strong schools. You name the benchmark, Fremont probably laminated it. The city ranked #1 in Health & Safety and #2 in Socioeconomics, which basically means your kid can ride their scooter without dodging potholes or panic.
It’s the kind of place where the crossing guard knows your dog’s name and the dentist gives out fluoride lollipops (don’t ask how that works). Of course, affording a house there? That’s a different pop quiz entirely.
Making the honor roll: Overland park & Irvine
Trailing closely are Overland Park, Kansas and Irvine, California the academic overachievers of the Midwest and West Coast. Overland Park scored high in affordability and access to child care, which might explain why so many young families are planting roots there instead of doing the “big-city shuffle” every few years.
Irvine, on the other hand, is squeaky clean, absurdly well-zoned, and the kind of place where you half-expect the mailboxes to be alphabetized. If you can handle the cost of living and the HOA rules longer than the U.S. Constitution you’re in good hands.
And… then there’s Detroit
Coming in at #182: Detroit, Michigan. A tough pill, but not exactly a curveball. The Motor City continues to wrestle with challenges that most city planners don’t like to say out loud: crumbling infrastructure, high poverty, safety concerns that don’t go away just because someone opened an artisanal pickle shop downtown.
Cleveland, Ohio, and Memphis, Tennessee, weren’t far behind. WalletHub’s data shows consistent struggles in the Health & Safety and Socioeconomic categories fewer pediatricians, more vacant lots, not enough public investment where it counts. You can’t fix that with a new splash pad.
What makes a city ‘Family-friendly’, anyway?
WalletHub didn’t just check Zillow listings and call it a day. Their analysis breaks down into five big buckets:
Family Fun
Parks, playgrounds, rec leagues, and how often you’re not stuck in traffic on the way there.
Health & Safety
Crime rates, hospital quality, and how breathable the air is (spoiler: it varies a lot).
Education & Child Care
Preschool availability, public school ratings, and student-teacher ratios that don’t make you want to cry.
Affordability
Not just housing, but groceries, utility bills, child care. The stuff that sneaks up on your budget and whacks it with a pool noodle.
Socioeconomics
Divorce rates, unemployment, and how many people in your zip code can cover an emergency bill without GoFundMe.
So while cities like Fremont have low divorce rates, high household incomes, and solid educational infrastructure, other cities are still catching up sometimes decades behind.
A city’s not just its score
Here’s where we take a breath. Because while it’s tempting to judge a city by its rank like it’s a spelling test, we all know better. A neighborhood isn’t a data point. It’s the guy who plows your driveway before he does his own. It’s the teacher who buys snacks for the class because the budget ran out again. It’s messy, and uneven, and sometimes the “worst” place to raise a family is the only place that ever really felt like home.
Still, if you’re thinking of relocating, or just curious where your hometown landed, this list isn’t a bad starting place. Just remember, no city gets it all right. And nobody’s raising perfect kids in perfect conditions. We’re all just trying to show up, pack the lunch, and remember it’s pajama day at school.
