Best Places for Raising a Family in Texas 2018

The cost of raising a family continues to rise. The United states of america Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that raising a kid born in 2015 costs $233,610, from nativity to age 17. Later bookkeeping for inflation, that's $31,000 more than information technology cost in 1960. The USDA does offer some reprieve in that same assay, however. The data shows that raising a kid in the urban Midwest costs about $40,000 less than raising a kid in the urban Northeast.

Does that mean families in the Northeast should move to the Midwest? Non necessarily, afterwards all at that place are many factors to consider when deciding where to raise a family: the price of a mortgage and child care needs to be weighed next to concerns similar the quality of local schools and the area's law-breaking rates.

We looked at information on 8 metrics to notice the best cities to enhance a family in 2018. We looked at data on housing cost as a percent of income, kid care costs, percent of residents nether the age of xix, school quality, graduation charge per unit, poverty rate, unemployment charge per unit and crime rate. Bank check out our data and methodology below to see where we got our data and how nosotros put it together.

This is our 2d annual study on the all-time places to raise a family unit. Check out the 2017 version here.

Key Findings

• Texas dominates – The Lone Star Country combines good schools with low costs of living to make groovy cities for raising families. In total, Texas cities took seven of the ten all-time cities to raise a family.
• No Northeast – The Northeast has no representatives in the top 25. Typically the biggest cities in the Northeast are plagued past high costs of living, including child intendance costs and housing costs. Boston for example ranks 66th overall despite the high quality of its schools. A big reason for that is the $20,000 per year average toll to keep their babe in full-time middle-based care.

1. Arlington, Texas

Arlington takes the top spot on the back of some impressive scores in education. Over 91% of students here graduate high school, the second-highest rate in our study. The schools in the surface area also do a expert job preparing students for more than merely graduation. The average proficiency rate in math and reading in Arlington is 75%.

Some other reason to enhance a family here is the relatively low price of living. According to our data, the average habitation costs but 22.5% of the average household's income. That figure is well below the affordability line.

2. Fort Worth, Texas

Another metropolis in the Dallas metro area takes second. Like in Arlington, the schools in Fort Worth score well. This city has acme 10 scores for its graduation rates and the boilerplate proficiency in math and reading.

The reason you lot might choose Fort Worth over Arlington is that Fort Worth is a slightly younger city. Over 31% of residents in Fort Worth are nether the historic period of 19. That ways enough of socializing and friend-making opportunities for young families in the area.

three. Corpus Christi, Texas

Corpus Christi takes the tertiary spot. This urban center is i of the near affordable in our top 10. The boilerplate home in this city costs only 21% of the average household's income, a top 10 rate. With less coin going to housing, parents can hopefully salve for retirement and contribute to their children's college fund.

Jobs in the area are also fairly plentiful. According to our information the unemployment rate in the area is 5.9%.

4. Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha is the starting time not-Texas city to make the list. Schools in Omaha are some of the all-time in the country, according to our data. Omaha schools score a 76% for average proficiency in math and reading. Finding work in this city likewise shouldn't be likewise hard. Omaha has an unemployment rate of 5.iv%, a top ten rate, according to Census Bureau data.

The jobs here too pay well, at least by local price-of-living standards. Paying for the average dwelling house in Omaha costs 22% of the average household's income.

5. Lincoln, Nebraska

Nebraska'southward uppercase takes the fifth spot. Lincoln students have an average proficiency in math and reading of 80.8%, the highest in the study. However, the urban center'south graduation rate is on the low side and hurts its overall score. Only 82% of students in this city graduate, co-ordinate to the Department of Education data, that'southward the lowest score in the elevation 10.

On the plus side, this is a safe city to call home. According to our information, it has the 24th-lowest criminal offence rate in the land, at 3,400 crimes per 100,000 residents.

six. Austin, Texas

Austin is another Texas cities with competitive schools. The schools around Austin rank sixth in the study for boilerplate proficiency in math and reading and kickoff for graduation charge per unit. But that's not the only reason to raise a family in Austin. The economical situation is positive every bit well, providing jobs and relatively affordable housing. Austin has an unemployment rate of 5% and average housing costs business relationship for just under 24% of the average household'due south income.

The one metric which may requite families pause is the age of residents in this city. Around 24% of residents are nether the age of 19, a relatively low score for this study.

7. El Paso, Texas

El Paso is a very condom city co-ordinate to our information. This city has about two,100 crimes for every 100,000 residents, a superlative 10 score. El Paso also has a young population, with enough of children and teenagers. Over 30% of residents here are under the age of xix. Parents volition also be happy to learn that its boilerplate kid intendance costs are among the everyman in this study. Putting an infant in total-time centered-based care costs $8,500 per year. That's a top 15 score.

Schools in El Paso do exit something to exist desired, withal. The city ranks below-average for both graduation rate and average proficiency in math and reading.

8. Laredo, Texas

Laredo has the youngest population in this report. That means enough of kids in the surface area and all the socializing opportunities those kids bring. Schools around Laredo are also to a higher place-boilerplate. This city ranks 16th for average proficiency in math and reading and 5th for graduation rate.

One area of concern for families in the surface area is the economic climate in Laredo. This city ranks 89th for poverty rate and 53rd for average housing costs equally a pct of income.

nine. Fremont, California

Fremont is the only California metropolis to fissure our peak 10. Despite being plagued by high housing costs – the median home costs $two,070 per month – households in this metropolis do fairly well. Housing costs eat up merely 22% of median household income, according to Census Bureau data. Fremont besides has the lowest poverty rate in our study.

Furthermore, the metropolis is 1 of the safest in the country. According to data from the FBI, Fremont has a combined violent and property crime rate of ii,176 per 100,000 residents. That's the sixth-lowest rate in our study.

10. San Antonio, Texas

Our height 10 ends in San Antonio. San Antonio had strong scores in schooling and price-of-living metrics. This city ranked in the pinnacle twenty for both housing costs as a percent of income and average annual child intendance costs. The urban center's best score came in its graduation charge per unit. Over xc% of students graduate from loftier school according to our data. For that metric, San Antonio ranks sixth in the report.

If San Antonio wants to climb any college in this ranking, the metropolis will need to better its crime rate. San Antonio ranked 72nd in crime rate per 100,000 residents.

Data and Methodology

In order to rank the best cities to raise a family, we looked at information on 91 of the largest 100 cities in the country. We compared them across the following eight metrics:

• Housing cost as a percent of income. This is the median housing cost as a percent of the median household income. Information comes from the Census Bureau'south five-Year American Customs Survey.
• Annual cost of full-fourth dimension centre-based child care for infants. Information comes from Child Care Aware and is from 2017.
• Percentage of residents under the age of xix. Data comes from the Census Bureau'due south 5-Twelvemonth American Customs Survey.
• Average proficiency in math and reading. This is the boilerplate pct of students beyond schools who are skilful in math combined with the boilerplate percent who are proficient in reading. Data comes from the U.S. Department of Education EDFacts for the 2015-2016 Schoolhouse Year and is measured past metro area.
• High school graduation rate. This is the average percentage of students across schools who graduate. Information comes from the U.Southward. Section of Education EDFacts for the 2015-2016 Schoolhouse Year and is measured past metro area.
• Poverty rate. Data comes from the Census Bureau'south v-Year American Community Survey.
• Unemployment rate. Data comes from the Census Bureau's v-Year American Community Survey.
• Crime rate per 100,000 residents. This is the combined belongings and trigger-happy criminal offense rates per 100,000 residents. Data comes from the FBI's 2016 Uniform Crime Reporting Program.

We ranked each metropolis in each metric. Next, nosotros constitute each city's average ranking, giving equal weight to each metric. Using this boilerplate ranking we created our final score. The city with the best boilerplate ranking received a score of 100. The city with the worst average ranking received a 0.

Tips for Affording a Family unit Dwelling

With child care costs and housing costs rising information technology is more of import than ever that families detect affordable housing for themselves.

• Before you lot starting time searching for a home, you should figure out how much home you tin afford. This means taking a shut wait at your income, corporeality of outstanding debt and how much you've already saved for a down payment. You might also consider consulting a financial advisor to effigy out how ownership a dwelling will impact your budget and your long-term fiscal goals. The SmartAdvisor matching tool can help you find a person to work with to meet your needs. Later on yous answer a serial of questions about your state of affairs and goals the program will narrow down your options to three fiduciaries who suit your needs. You lot can and so read their profiles to learn more most them, interview them on the phone or in person and choose who to work with in the futurity. This allows you to find a adept fit while the program does much of the hard piece of work for you.
• One time y'all take chosen a home you are interested in, it is a fairly straightforward process to estimate how much your monthly mortgage payments will be. Just owning a domicile comes with more costs than but the mortgage. Yous need to estimate how much you will exist spending on property taxes and homeowners insurance. And don't forget appreciation, when the value of your abode increases so does how much you pay in property taxes. If you are moving from renting to owning in a land like Texas or New Jersey, you may be surprised at simply how much of your housing costs are taken up past holding taxes.
• If you are a young family and planning on growing, it makes sense to buy a home for tomorrow rather than today. This ways ownership a home with plenty space to firm time to come family members. You can actually save money down the route this way, as you'll avoid having to pay closing costs and broker's fees by not having to store for some other home. But even if you are buying a bigger domicile than you demand at this electric current moment, make sure information technology'due south notwithstanding a home you can actually afford.

Questions about our report? Contact usa at press@smartasset.com.

Photo credit: ©iStock.com/eugeniomarongiu

Derek Miller, CEPF® Derek Miller is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh where he studied economics. He is passionate about using data to aid people make amend financial decisions. Derek is a Certified Educator in Personal Finance® (CEPF®) and a member of the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. He is a information journalist whose expertise is in finding the stories inside the numbers. Derek's writing has been featured on Yahoo, AOL, and Huffington Mail service. He believes the biggest fiscal mistake people make is waiting besides belatedly to salve for retirement and missing out on the wonders of compounding interest. Derek lives in Brooklyn.

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Source: https://smartasset.com/mortgage/best-cities-to-raise-a-family-2018

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