?WhereToHQ

Ranked · Best for families · United States

Best cities for families in the US

Cities of 25,000+ residents, scored with the “Best for families” weighting the live tool uses, heaviest on school rating, crime index, childcare (per child), property tax rate. Scores are relative to this set; open the tool to change the weights and re-rank.

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Top 10 · computed ranking

  1. 1.Raleigh, NC481k residents

    71/100

    school rating: 7.5/10 · crime index: 35/100 · childcare (per child): $1,300/mo

  2. 2.Chesapeake, VA253k residents

    70/100

    school rating: 6.8/10 · crime index: 32/100 · childcare (per child): $1,250/mo

  3. 3.Newport News, VA184k residents

    70/100

    school rating: 6.8/10 · crime index: 32/100 · childcare (per child): $1,250/mo

  4. 4.Norfolk, VA234k residents

    69/100

    school rating: 6.8/10 · crime index: 32/100 · childcare (per child): $1,250/mo

  5. 5.Worcester, MA207k residents

    69/100

    school rating: 8.5/10 · crime index: 30/100 · childcare (per child): $1,900/mo

  6. 6.Springfield, MA155k residents

    69/100

    school rating: 8.5/10 · crime index: 30/100 · childcare (per child): $1,900/mo

  7. 7.Virginia Beach, VA456k residents

    68/100

    school rating: 6.5/10 · crime index: 30/100 · childcare (per child): $1,250/mo

  8. 8.Jersey City, NJ294k residents

    68/100

    school rating: 8.3/10 · crime index: 25/100 · childcare (per child): $1,350/mo

  9. 9.Boise, ID237k residents

    68/100

    school rating: 6.5/10 · crime index: 34/100 · childcare (per child): $1,150/mo

  10. 10.Bridgeport, CT149k residents

    68/100

    school rating: 7.8/10 · crime index: 27/100 · childcare (per child): $1,350/mo

Methodology: each city is scored 0–100 by min–max normalizing every weighted facet across this candidate set (direction-aware), identical math to the tool's “Best fit” tab. A different weighting produces a different order, which is the point: this is a starting shortlist, not a verdict.

Questions & answers
Which city is best for families in the US?
Raleigh, NC ranks first with a fit score of 71/100, followed by Chesapeake (70) and Newport News (70), using the "Best for families" weighting.
How is this ranking calculated?
Each of the 10 candidate cities (25,000+ residents) is scored 0 to 100 by min-max normalizing the weighted facets, heaviest on school rating, crime index, childcare (per child), property tax rate, across this set. Change the weights in the live tool and the order changes with them.