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Kid-Friendly Meccas: These Are the 10 Best Places to Raise a Family in 2025

An under-the-radar, Bay Area city was named the best place in America to raise a family in 2025.

For the fourth year in a row, Fremont, Calif., about half-an-hour north of Silicon Valley’s San Jose, Calif, beat out 181 other cities for the kid-friendly honor, according to WalletHub’s annual rankings. The city had just under 230,000 residents in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Fremont ranked first for socioeconomics, which included the local divorce, unemployment, and foreclosure rates. The city also came in second for education and childcare and fourth for health and safety. It also had the fourth highest median family salary when adjusted for cost of living and the lowest divorce rate in the nation.

The downside is homes in the city aren’t cheap. The median home list price in Fremont was $1.4 million, according to Realtor.com.

“Finding the best place to raise a family is difficult, between balancing an affordable cost of living with good educational opportunities, safety and enough recreation to keep kids entertained,” said WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo in a statement.

“People also often want to raise their children close to their extended family,” he said. “Therefore, current or prospective parents can benefit from narrowing down their choices to a few of the best cities that are within a reasonable drive of their family.”

To come up with its list, WalletHub looked at 45 metrics in 182 cities. Those metrics were broken down into five categories: family fun; health and safety; education and childcare; affordability; and socioeconomics. The report looked at things like quality of the local school system, home prices, and recreational opportunities. 

Three of the cities on the list were in California, with the rest spread across the country.

“A child’s development and a family’s quality of life are impacted by the city they live in,” Armon R. Perry, a social work and family science professor at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, said in a statement. “Families that I encounter that I encounter are concerned with things such as the viability of the local economy, the quality and reputation of the public school system, the amount and proximity to green space, the availability of fresh food.”

The 10 Best Cities to Raise a Family In:

1. Fremont, Calif.
2. Overland Park, Kan.
3. Plano, Texas
4. Irvine, Calif.
5. South Burlington, Vt.
6. Seattle, Wash.
7. Boise, Idaho
8. Gilbert, Ariz.
9. Bismarck, N.D.
10. San Diego, Calif.