Where Atlanta ranks among best places to raise a family

Where you decide to raise your family might mean factoring in many variables. Or it might be as easy as raising them where you live now. A new ranking from WalletHub looks at the best cities for raising and family, and may offer insights for those thinking of starting a family.

To determine the best and worst U.S. cities for raising a family, WalletHub compared 182 cities — including the 150 most populated plus at least two of the more populated in each state — across five key dimensions: family fun, health and safety, education and child care, affordability, and socio-economics.

The financial website then evaluated those categories using 45 relevant metrics, each of which was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for family life.

However, Sherrill W. Hayes, director of the School of Data Science and Analytics, and professor of conflict management at Kennesaw State University, explained: “Families should strongly reflect on how places connect with and support their values as a family. This is sometimes a difficult question for young parents since they may just be figuring themselves out as adults, but location determines access to jobs, activities, educational opportunities, social networks, and other intangibles.”

When Wallet Hub tallied the numbers, three Georgia cities made the list: Atlanta, Columbus and Augusta.

None ranked particularly high, but Atlanta at least made it into the top half. With an overall score of 53.17, it ranked No 80 of 182 cities. In each dimension, we landed at:

Columbus, with an overall score of 46.07, ranked No. 140 nationwide. In each dimension, it finished:

Augusta barely missed the bottom 10, ranking No. 172 with an overall score of 41.33. In each dimension, it ranked:

If you’re mobile and looking to move, WalletHub’s best city to raise a family is Fremont, California. Fremont ranked No. 1 in both education and child care, and in socio-economics.