Texas finishes 30th in ranking of most family-friendly states

Culture
Family pexels vidal balielo jr 1682497
Texas ranked in the bottom half of the 50 states in a new WalletHub study that examines how family-friendly the states are based on criteria such as school quality, housing affordability and income tax rates. | Pexels.com/Vidal Balielo Jr.

Texas ranked in the bottom half of the 50 states in a new WalletHub study that examines how family-friendly the states are based on criteria such as school quality, housing affordability and income tax rates. 

The Lone Star State scored 46.42 out of 100 in the ranking, putting Texas in 30th place in the study. In comparison, No. 1 Massachusetts scored 65.21 in the analysis that compared states over five dimensions: Family fun, health and safety, quality of schools and child care, living affordability and socio-economic issues such as divorce rates.

Texas ranked fifth in the family fun category, 47th for health and safety, 30th in education and child care, 44th in affordability and 44th in socio-economics. 

In addition, Texas had the second highest share of families with young children among the states. 

The study’s authors say the ranking aims to provide readers with a comprehensive measure of how states are doing in addressing those concerns deemed most important to parents and their children. 

---

Best and Worst States to Raise a Family

Overall RankStateTotal ScoreFamily FunHealth & SafetyEducation & Child CareAffordabilitySocio-economics
1Massachusetts65.21932224
2New York61.81285646
3Vermont59.154414301
4Minnesota58.791392297
5Nebraska58.49171012144
6New Hampshire58.383429245
7Connecticut57.672977138
8Washington57.5881826316
9North Dakota57.5731173152
10New Jersey57.0121141441
11Rhode Island55.7228517532
12Iowa55.58321311710
13Utah54.98161915383
14Wisconsin54.472023161911
15South Dakota54.39301213278
16Illinois54.06331212243
17Maine53.7346463314
18Virginia53.162711141317
19Colorado53.16729281818
20Maryland52.722315101030
21Pennsylvania51.59122725827
22Montana51.5339208436
23Hawaii51.32156274021
24California51.18132462042
25Oregon50.791024351120
26Wyoming49.763316193913
27Kansas49.33735231612
28Missouri49.122434202615
29Delaware46.634026182537
30Texas46.42547304444
31Ohio45.071930382340
32Alaska45.061433402823
33Indiana44.753637332119
34Idaho44.46382145479
35Michigan44.414325341239
36Tennessee43.852240323425
37North Carolina43.72639293726
38Kentucky43.194528243533
39Florida43.12638315045
40Arizona40.391136474829
41Georgia39.832546394235
42Nevada38.96445494949
43Alabama38.344744411731
44Arkansas37.914843362928
45West Virginia37.695022434122
46Oklahoma37.194148443634
47South Carolina37.094241424636
48Louisiana34.661849483150
49New Mexico30.793542504548
50Mississippi30.474950373247
Source: WalletHub.com