Iowa Is In 2023’s Top 10 Best States To Raise A Family

If you or someone you know is looking for a great place to raise children and establish roots for your growing family, one of the states that make up the Quad Cities is one of the best in America. If you couldn't tell by the headline, that state is Iowa but Illinois isn't too far behind. That means the Quad Cities is a great place to raise a family and to call home.

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Our friends at WalletHub did a study and have released its list of 2023's Best & Worst States to Raise a Family. 

In order to determine which states are better to raise a family in than others, WalletHub compared the 50 states across five key dimensions:

1. Family Fun
2. Health & Safety
3. Education & Child Care
4. Affordability
5. Socio-economics

WalletHub evaluated those dimensions using 51 relevant metrics, Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for family life.

After doing all of that math, WalletHub determined each state’s overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order the states. The two states that make up the Quad Cities - Iowa and Illinois - ranked pretty high on this list with one of them being in the top 10.

WalletHub found that both Iowa and Illinois were in the top 15. Iowa ranked even higher and landed in the top 10.

Iowa was deemed the 9th best state to raise a family. With an overall score of 57.05, this is how Iowa ranked in the five key dimensions:

• Family Fun - 31st 
• Health & Safety - 14th
• Education & Child Care - 9th
• Affordability - 9th
• Socio-economics - 10th

Iowa was 1st in affordable housing and unemployment rate, 7th in separation and divorce rate, 8th in percentage of families with young children, 9th in median annual family income, and 10th in infant-mortality rate.

Across the Mississippi River to the east, Illinois ranked as the 13th best state to raise a family. With an overall score of 55.49, this is how Illinois ranked in the five key dimensions:

• Family Fun - 4th 
• Health & Safety - 29th
• Education & Child Care - 25th
• Affordability - 11th
• Socio-economics - 45th