City In Alameda County Named Best Place To Raise A Family In The Country

FREMONT, CA — The average American moves 11.7 times in their lives and if a family is looking to relocate somewhere new to raise their family, there may be no better choice than this city in the Bay Area, according to a recent study.

Fremont was declared the best city to raise a family, according to a study by WalletHub, which compared more than 180 cities and based the finding on 45 key metrics such as cost of housing, quality of local schools and health-care systems.

Top 5 Places to Raise a Family in 2025

1. Fremont, CA
2. Overland Park, KS
3. Plano, TX
4. Irvine, CA
5. South Burlington, VT

“Finding the best place to raise a family is difficult, between balancing an affordable cost of living with good educational opportunities, safety and enough recreation to keep kids entertained. On top of all of these factors, people also often want to raise their children close to their extended family. Therefore, current or prospective parents can benefit from narrowing down their choices to a few of the best cities that are within a reasonable drive of their family,” said Chip Lupo, a WalletHub analyst.

WalletHub, a personal finance company, has also named Fremont the happiest city in the U.S. for five years in a row using metrics such as average leisure time spent per day to the depression rate to the income-growth rate.

Many people may think that having more money equals happiness but the study found a different outcome.

“Research shows that having more money only increases your happiness until you’re making at least $75,000 per year — anything more you earn likely won’t have an impact. Therefore, when deciding where to live to maximize your happiness, you’ll want to pick a city that offers more than just a decent average income. The ideal city provides conditions that foster good mental and physical health, like reasonable work hours, short commutes, good weather, and caring neighbors,” Lupo said.