Best, Worst States to Raise a Family: NY in the Middle, Says New Report

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Raising a family is a complex business. And New York is only a middling setting — given the cost of child care — according to a new comparison analysis from WalletHub, 2017's Best & Worst States to Raise a Family.

The personal finance website's analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on 40 key indicators of family-friendliness. The data set ranges from “median family salary” to “housing affordability” to “unemployment rate.”

And the researchers pulled no punches. "Rising a healthy, stable family sometimes requires moving to a new state," they wrote.

But to be frank, the trouble is that the best states to raise a family according to this analysis are even more likely than New York to see a lot of snow: North Dakota, New Hampshire and Vermont.

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The researchers used 40 key metrics in their methodology, which rated 50 states and the District of Columbia across five key dimensions: 1) Family Fun, 2) Health & Safety, 3) Education & Child Care, 4) Affordability and 5) Socioeconomics.

Here's what they found about New York. Good news: low infant mortality rate. Bad news: the cost of child care was second-highest in the country. And New York had the fourth-lowest median family salary, once cost-of-living was factored in.

Raising a Family in New York (1=Best; 25=Avg.):

• 24th – % of Families with Kids
• 50th – Child Care Costs (Adjusted for Median Family Income)
• 9th – Infant Mortality Rate
• 48th – Median Family Salary (Adjusted for Cost of Living)
• 28th – Violent-Crime Rate
• 34th – % of Families Below Poverty Level
• 46th – Housing Affordability
• 28th – Unemployment Rate
• 18th – Divorce Rate
• 48th – % of Two-Parent Families

Click here for the full report and methodology.