Seattle One Of America's Best Cities To Raise A Family: Study

SEATTLE — If you take a midday wall through Seattle's Upper Queen Anne neighborhood, you could probably spot over 100 baby strollers in under an hour. Those babies and their parents know what's up, apparently, because Seattle was recently ranked as one of the best cities in the nation to raise a new family.

For their study, 2022’s Best & Worst Places to Raise a Family, analysts with WalletHub say they ranked 182 major U.S. cities based on 46 key metrics, including housing affordability, the quality of public schools, median income and poverty rate.

Seattle, thanks in large part to the booming local economy, ended up ranking in as the 7th best city in the country to start a family. Researchers say that, out of all 182 cities, Seattle had the best unemployment rate. It also had the 14th highest median family salary (even adjusted for cost of living), a low percentage of families living in poverty and a below-average divorce rate.

"Increased availability of community resources and services can improve the quality of life for residents," said Derek Gwinn, Director of Relationship Education, Center for Healthy Relationships; Assistant Professor, John Brown University. "Cities with greater financial strength are often better able to provide these enhancements, which have been associated with continued disparities in educational or occupational achievement between wealthy locales and those with fewer resources.”

Two other Washington cities made the list: Spokane came in 70th place with a high score in education and child care costs, and Tacoma came in 83rd, also ranking well in childcare and with a high affordability ranking.

Here are WalletHub's top 10 cities to raise a family:

1. Fremont, CA
2. Overland Park, KS
3. Irvine, CA
4. Plano, TX
5. Columbia, MD
6. San Diego, CA
7. Seattle, WA
8. San Jose, CA
9. Madison, WI
10. Scottsdale, AZ

Conversely, here are the 10 lowest-ranking cities on the list:

1. Detroit, MI
2. Cleveland, OH
3. Memphis, TN
4. Birmingham, AL
5. San Bernardino, CA
6. Newark, NJ
7. Fayetteville, NC
8. Shreveport, LA
9. Jackson, MS
10. Augusta, GA

>> See the full ranking from WalletHub.