Colorado Ranks No. 15 Among Best Places To Raise A Family

DENVER (CBS4)- Colorado ranks in the top 20 when it comes to raising a family, but surprisingly for many who have chosen to call the state home, not in the top 10. Instead, the state ranks No. 15, according to new 2021 WalletHub rankings released last week.

In fact, Colorado ranks well behind other states like Massachusetts, which comes in at No. 1, followed by Minnesota at No. 2 and North Dakota at No. 3, New Jersey at No. 7, Utah at No. 10, Nebraska at No. 11, Iowa at No. 12 and South Dakota at No. 13.

Some of the reasons that the state didn't rank higher, according to WalletHub, are a lack of health and safety resources, education and child care, which was ranked on differing factors including air pollution, violent crime, quality of public schools, day car and child care costs and parental leave policies.

Colorado scored low on the "Affordability" category which was ranked on factors including housing costs, medical bills and retirement access.

However, Colorado does rank very high on the "Family Fun" category which includes factors like families with young children, number of attractions, fitness and rec centers and neighborhoods with playgrounds.

Some of the lowest ranking states are New Mexico at No. 50, and Mississippi at 49.