Study Ranks Tri-State Area Among Best States to Raise a Family

Finding the best place to raise a family can be a challenge -- after all, there are a lot of factors to consider, from childcare cost to safety to the quality of public education. 

Often times, raising a stable, healthy family requires moving to another state. However, if you live in the tri-state area, you are ahead of the curb, according to a recent student.

WalletHub determined that the tri-state area has some of the best states to raise a family with New York, New Jersey and Connecticut placing in the top 10.

In order to compile the ranking, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 50 key indicators of family-friendliness from median family salary to housing affordability to unemployment rate. The data was then divided into five different rankings -- family fun, health & safety, education & child care, affordability and socio-economics -- which comprised the overall ranking.

New York placed the highest out of the three states, coming in sixth place. The ranking is due in part due to coming in first place in the family fun rank and No. 4 in the affordability rank.

New Jersey followed right behind, coming in seventh place, thanks in part to coming in first place in the affordability rank and fifth in education & child care, according to WalletHub.

Connecticut came in No. 9 overall with high placements in the education & child care rank (No. 2) as well as the affordability rank (No. 5).

The tri-state area also made appearances in individual key metrics. For example, New Jersey came in third as having the highest median family salary while New York had the lowest.

New York also came in third place when it comes to having the least affordable housing as well as the third highest child care costs.

Meanwhile, Connecticut came in as the state with the fifth fewest violent crimes per capita.

Additionally, New Jersey had the third lowest divorce rate.

To learn more about the methodology used, or to see the complete list, click here.