Pennsylvania Third Best State to Raise a Family

The Keystone State was named the third best state to raise a family by Consumer Affairs, based on the state’s impressive public education, safety and pediatric health care offerings. 

To find the best states for raising families, Consumer Affairs analyzed each state (and Washington, D.C.) across five weighted categories: affordability, safety, pediatric health care and quality of life. 

Pennsylvania ranked: 

• 19th in affordability, which looked at the annual cost of raising a child, including expenses like food, rent, childcare and tax credits 
• 10th in safety, the category analyzing violent crime, property crime, driving safety, public safety and climate safety 
• 5th in education, which was based on K-12 performance, school funding and resources, higher education quality and school safety 
• 10th in pediatric health care, considering the number of pediatricians, infant mortality rate, percentage of uninsured children, percentage of children who did not receive preventative care and percentage of families struggling with medical bills 
• 34th in quality of life, which looked at the percentage of children in poverty, number of state and national parks, number of public libraries and air quality 

Of note, the analysis said that the commonwealth had the second-highest public high school graduation rate in the country at 96%, and it ranked in the top 10 for the number of pediatricians per 100,000 children (147). 

The top five best states for raising families overall were: 

1. Vermont
2. Maine
3. Pennsylvania
4. New Hampshire
5. Wyoming

The states falling at the bottom were: 

1. California
2. Texas
3. New Mexico
4. Arizona
5. Nevada