Boats at Carillon Point Marina at Sunset in Kirkland, Washington. Kirkland ranked as the No. 1 best suburb for growing families in the U.S.
Getty
The needs of a growing family are quite different from those of a single-person household or couple with no children. The latter doesn’t really have to consider critical factors like the quality of school districts when choosing where to live, and can be more flexible on others like crime rates. One city might be perfect for one type of household, but not so for another.
Personal finance site GOBankingRates conducted a study that analyzed thousands of American suburbs in terms of cost of living, quality of schools and safety, as well as demographics, searching for towns that have been experiencing growing numbers of family households. Based on home prices and rents from Zillow, itemized non-housing costs of living from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, school district grades from Niche.com, crime rates from Neighborhood Scout and population data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2017 American Community Survey, the study identified 50 suburbs as the best across the country for growing families.
Find out where the best suburbs for growing families in the U.S.
Best and Most Affordable Suburbs
Texas boasts the most cities that rank among the best suburbs for growing families, with nine suburbs. Ohio comes in second with six top-ranking suburbs. Indiana, Iowa and Washington each have four; California, Massachusetts, New Jersey and North Carolina each sport three, while Tennessee is home to two.
Here’s the full breakdown of the best suburbs for growing families by state:
Texas
- 3 Cedar Park
- 5 Murphy
- 10 Allen
- 11 Leander
- 19 Little Elm
- 20 League City
- 33 Friendswood
- 43 Cibolo
- 48 Corinth
Ohio
- 15 Upper Arlington
- 16 Powell
- 18 Dublin
- 32 Avon
- 38 HillHilliard
- 39 Perrysburg
Indiana
- 2 Fishers
- 12 Noblesville
- 28 Westfield
- 46 Carmel
Iowa
- 8 Waukee
- 24 Norwalk
- 29 Urbandale
- 42 Clive
Washington
- 1 Kirkland
- 22 Sammamish
- 30 Redmond
- 37 Bothell
California
- 4 Dublin
- 9 San Ramon
- 26 Alamo
Massachusetts
- 13 Lexington
- 34 Milton
- 40 Arlington
New Jersey
- 27 Madison
- 36 Summit
- 45 Oakland
North Carolina
- 14 Holly Springs
- 17 Morrisville
- 21 Stallings
Tennessee
- 44 Portland
- 47 Brentwood
Alabama
- 25 Vestavia Hills
Connecticut
- 31 Darien
Illinois
- 41 Campton Hills
Maryland
- 7 Clarksburg
Michigan
- 23 Novi
Minnesota
- 49 Lakeville
Missouri
- 35 Wentzville
Nebraska
- 6 Bellevue
Wisconsin
- 50 Verona
Looking within states, certain metro areas stand out more than others. For instance, in Ohio, the capital city Columbus has four of the best suburbs located within its metro area compared to one in Cleveland and one in Toledo. In Texas, Dallas boasts four, Austin and Houston have two, and San Antonio has one.
In other states, one metro area dominated over others. In Washington, all four best suburbs are located in the Seattle metro area. In New Jersey, all three best suburbs are found in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area, while no suburbs within the densely-populated Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area — which covers parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware — ranked for New Jersey.
Check out the full breakdown of the best suburbs for growing families in the U.S.