A new analysis ranks two Illinois cities in the middle of the pack when it comes to starting a family.
WalletHub, a personal finance company, compared 182 cities across the country to determine which come out on top when starting a family.
Aurora, Illinois, ranked at 62 on the list while Chicago came in at 87 out of 182.
The study looked at 150 of the most populated cities in the U.S. as well as two of the most populated cities in each state. Factors like family fun, health and safety, education and childcare, affordability and socio-economics were used to determine the rankings.
How did Illinois cities score?
The analysis ranks cities based on the most important factors for raising a family. Each city was given a separate ranking out of 182 for each category:
Aurora
- Family fun rank: 107
- Health and safety rank: 29
- Education and child care rank: 58
- Affordability rank: 81
- Socio-economic rank: 88
Chicago
- Family fun rank: 19
- Health and safety rank: 100
- Education and child care rank: 72
- Affordability rank: 97
- Socio-economic rank: 153
Overall, Aurora ranked highest in health and safety and lowest in family fun, while Chicago ranked best in family fun, but worst in socio-economics.
And while Aurora and Chicago didn’t make the top 50, they did score well in some individual categories.
Aurora was third on the list for the percentage of families with young kids, a factor that can make a difference when it comes to finding community and resources.
Meanwhile, Chicago tied for first in two family-specific categories: most playgrounds per capita and attractions.
Top five cities across the county to start a family
Fremont, California, took the top spot in the WalletHub rankings. The city’s median family income, good schools and ample outdoor space make it a top place to start a family.
Other top spots were snagged by cities in Kansas, Texas and Vermont. Here are WalletHub’s top five cities across the country to start a family:
- Fremont, CA
- Overland Park, KS
- Plano, TX
- Irvine, CA
- South Burlington, VT
How the rankings were decided
The five key factors–family fun, health and safety, education and childcare, affordability and socio-economics–were broken down using 45 metrics which were then weighed based on how important they were to families.
For example, in the education and childcare category, WalletHub used data on school quality, high school graduation rates, day care services per capita, the number of summer learning camps and other factors.
The data come from a range of sources. Some of the metrics come from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while other information was gleaned from user-generated content from companies like Yelp and TripAdvisor.
For a full breakdown of the process used to create the rankings, visit WalletHub’s methodology section.
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