Nebraska Was Just Named One Of The Best States In The Country To Raise A Family

When you've got a family, choosing a new place to live can seem hopelessly complicated. There are so many things you have to factor in - and you've even got to look into the future to see the things that may matter years from now. Luckily, the internet exists, and there are a whole lot of people out there willing to analyze just about any data. WalletHub, a personal finance site, releases yearly reports on which states are the best for families, job-hunters, people on a budget, and so on. And when they analyzed the best states for families, Nebraska took the #10 spot.

To come up with the rankings, WalletHub looked at each state across five key areas.

1. Family fun

2. Health & Safety

3. Education & Child Care

4. Affordability

5. Socio-economics

Out of all 50 states, Nebraska ranked #4 for young families with kids, which is a section of the "Family Fun" metric.

The idea here is that the more other young kids are around, the more fun your young family will have. Nebraska's overall "Family Fun" ranking was 21.

In health and safety, we came in at #11 in the nation.

That means we've got the hospitals and pediatricians to take care of kids and their families, low violent crimes, high numbers of insured kids, and a large portion of kids who feel safe both at home and at school.

Our overall "Education and Child Care" ranking was 12.

We have solid public schools, a high percentage of kids who engage in extracurriculars and volunteer work, and a terrific high school graduation rate.

Unfortunately, as many parents can confirm, we come in near the bottom of the country when it comes to child care costs.

When it comes to overall affordability, Nebraska has a ranking of 23.

Housing costs, annual health insurance premiums, and family debt-to-income ratio were all better than in more than half of the country.

And finally, our "Socio-economics" rank was #9 out of 50. Not bad!

This section measures the number of families living in poverty, divorce rates and marriage durations, job security, and job opportunities, among other factors.

We could have told you that Nebraska is a great place to raise a family, but it's always good to see it laid out in a scientific way! See the rankings for every state and get more info on the methodology straight from WalletHub.

Are you raising a family in Nebraska? Did you move here specifically because it's a great state for families? Tell us all about your experiences in the comments.