This Is the Best City in America to Raise a Family

Finding the best place to settle down with kids is dependent on a bunch of factors, with those factors prioritized differently for each family. To expedite the big decision, WalletHub examined more than 180 of the nation's most populated cities, using as its gauge nearly four dozen metrics in five main categories: family fun (think attractions, weather, and walkability); health and safety, which looks at everything from air and water quality to driving fatalities and violent crime rates; education and child care; affordability; and socioeconomics, meaning separation and divorce rates, unemployment rates, the share of families living in poverty, and the like. Five California cities made the top 10, as follows:

Best cities to raise a family

1. Fremont, California (No. 1 in "Education & Child Care," "Socioeconomics" categories)
2. Overland Park, Kansas (No. 1 in "Affordability" category)
3. Irvine, California (No. 1 in "Health & Safety" category)
4. Plano, Texas
5. Seattle
6. Gilbert, Arizona
7. San Jose, California
8. San Diego
9. Boise, Idaho
10. Huntington Beach, California

Worst cities to raise a family

173. Augusta, Georgia
174. Jackson, Mississippi
175. New Orleans
176. Birmingham, Alabama
177. San Bernardino, California
178. Gulfport, Mississippi
179. Newark, New Jersey
180. Cleveland
181. Detroit (last in "Socioeconomics" category)
182. Memphis, Tennessee (last in "Health & Safety" category)

See how other cities fared here. (These cities claim the best overall quality of life.)