Kentucky Ranks 38th in ‘Best Places to Raise a Family’ in Study
A new study ranking the best states in the U.S. in which to raise a family puts Kentucky in the lower third, just above Florida.
Based on a cumulative score calculated from several categories, Kentucky placed 38th on the list generated by WalletHub, which conducted the study. Massachusetts, New York and Vermont make up the top three, respectively. Mississippi, New Mexico and Louisiana ranked 50th, 49th and 48th, respectively. Our neighbor to the north, Indiana, was ranked 33rd, with neighboring states Illinois (11th), Ohio (31st) and Tennessee (3th) also coming in at higher spots in the study than Kentucky.
Overall, eastern and northern states scored best in the study, while southern states generally brought up the rear.
Categories identified in the study included Family Fun, Health & Safety, Education & Child Care, Affordability and Socioeconomics. In these categories, Kentucky ranked at:
Family Fun, 45th
Health & Safety, 28th
Education & Child Care, 24th
Affordability, 35th
Socioeconomics, 33rd
WalletHub evaluated those categories in each state using 51 relevant metrics, such as housing costs, crime rates, divorce rates, poverty rates, etc. (For instance, Kentucky ranked 47th in poverty rates.) Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for family life. Finally, the study determined each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order the states. Based on this, Kentucky received a composite score of just 43.19.
Clearly, Kentucky’s ranking is less than impressive, at least on the surface. To be fair, however, we have a lot of bourbon. And at least we beat Florida, if only barely.
Read the full study here.
