Four Cities in New York Named “Best” in America to Raise a Family

Planning on moving to New York and putting down roots?

Then you might want to consider moving to one of these four cities that are among the best places to raise a family.

WalletHub ranked 182 of America's largest cities to determine which are the best for starting and raising a family in 2025.

Four Cities in New York Make the WalletHub Roundup

Cities were ranked based on education quality, housing costs, health care accessibility and affordability, and number of recreational activities for the whole family.

In ascending order, Rochester ranked as the 4th best city in New York for families. Overall, it placed 133rd for having a strong rating for education and child care, as well as affordability.

However, its reputation was dinged for having the 4th highest divorce rate out of all 182 cities.

Further up the list, in 107th place nationally and third best in the state, was the City of Buffalo. In addition to scoring well on affordability and education, it also earned high marks when it came to family fun.

Buffalo, as well as Rochester, did suffer in the standings for having the fifth and fourth-highest percentage of families living below the poverty line, respectively.

Coming up as New York's second-best city to raise a family and 88th place nationally was Yonkers.  The city's strongest showings were in health and safety, as well as education and child care.

Claiming the title of best in state was New York City, which ranked 69th nationally. It enjoyed one of the highest scores in the nation when it came to family fun and education. It also had a strong showing in terms of health and safety.

When it came to family fun, New York City tied with three other national cities for having the most playgrounds per capita. The other cities were Las Vegas, Chicago, and Cincinnati.

New York also tied for first place with five other cities for having the most attractions. The cities also claiming #1 in that category were Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, San Diego, and San Francisco.

However, New York's overall score took a big hit when it was ranked on affordability.

The Big Apple was found to have the fourth-lowest median family salary adjusted for cost of living, and was found to have the least affordable housing in America.

"Finding the best place to raise a family is difficult, said Chip Lupo, a WalletHub analyst.

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He said parents often balance numerous factors when deciding on a place to live, adding, "On top of all of these factors, people also often want to raise their children close to their extended family."

Lupo noted that the 182 mentioned cities are, hopefully, "within a reasonable drive of their family."