CLEVELAND — The continuing high inflation has Americans on the go, searching for cities to move to with a low cost of living. With that in mind, WalletHub has put together a report ranking the best and worst places to raise a family in 2023.
Unfortunately, the data revealed that among the 182 largest cities in America, Cleveland is the worst city to raise a family.
So how did WalletHub determine the criteria of what makes a city family-friendly? The personal-finance website looked at the 150 most populated U.S. cities, plus at least two of the most populated cities in each state — across five key dimensions:
- Family Fun
- Health & Safety
- Education & Child Care
- Affordability
- Socio-economics
WalletHub then evaluated those categories using 45 relevant metrics, which included everything from "Sports-Fan-Friendliness," to "Cost of Living." Several of those metrics saw Cleveland score poorly, including:
- 182nd (last) in "Separation & Divorce Rate"
- 181st (next-to-last) in "% of Two-Parent Families"
- 181st (next-to-last) in "% of Families Living in Poverty"
- 177th in "Median Family Salary"
- 169th in "Unemployment Rate"
- 168th in "Violent-Crime Rate per Capita"
Here were 2023's Best Places to Raise a Family:
- Fremont, CA
- Overland Park, KS
- Irvine, CA
- Plano, TX
- South Burlington, VT
- San Diego, CA
- San Jose, CA
- Scottsdale, AZ
- Gilbert, AZ
- San Francisco, CA
Here is how the rest of Ohio's cities ranked:
- Columbus - No. 66
- Cincinnati - No. 100
- Akron - No. 154
- Toledo - No. 161
