Best & Worst CA Cities For Families: See Where Oceanside Ranks

OCEANSIDE, CA — A new report by WalletHub ranked the best and worst places to raise a family in California.

In San Diego County, Poway ranked No. 22, followed by Encinitas at No. 23. They came in as the top two cities in the county, while National City, ranked at No. 240, came in as the worst. Oceanside ranked No. 158.

The report compared the family-friendliness of 254 cities in the Golden State based on 21 key metrics, ranging from the number of attractions to the number of pediatricians per capita to the unemployment rate.

Folsom, a city that borders Folsom Lake in Sacramento County, was ranked as the best city in California to raise a family with a combined total score of 80.84. Folsom, which also ranked as the top city for affordable housing, had one of the lowest poverty levels in the state.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, San Bernardino and Adelanto were near-tied for the bottom of the list with a score of 35.75, and 35.08, respectively.

These are the top 10 California cities for families, according to WalletHub:

1. Folsom
2. San Ramon
3. Los Altos
4. El Dorado Hills
5. Dublin
6. Danville
7. Pleasanton
8. Cupertino
9. Aliso Viejo
10. Roseville

See how cities in San Diego County ranked, with statewide rankings in parenthesis:

1. Poway (22)
2. Encinitas (23)
3. Carlsbad (50)
4. Santee (62)
5. San Marcos (93)
6. San Diego (97)
7. Chula Vista (98)
8. La Mesa (155)
9. Oceanside (158)
10. Vista (164)
11. Escondido (177)
12. Spring Valley (195)
13. Fallbrook (207)
14. El Cajon (227)
15. National City (240)

Click here to view the full report.

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