Ranking: The Best Cities for Kids

Cities in SmartAsset's new ranking offer affordable mortgages and top public schools to homebuyers looking for a new family home.

Overall, the Midwest is a great region for children, the study finds. Last year’s top three places for children all ranked in the top three again in 2018: Cedar Rapids, Iowa stayed on top, Appleton, Wisc. rose to the second spot, and Rochester, Minn. was third, per SmartAsset. Cedar Rapids boasts top 10 schools for both English and math proficiency, and a child insurance rate of 98.5 percent, according to the Census Bureau. The outlying cities were Barnstable Town, Mass. (ranked fifth), and Santa Cruz-Watsonville, Calif.

First, we ranked each city in every metric, giving a half weight to air quality and water quality, and a full weight to the other factors. Then we found each city’s average ranking. We used this average ranking to determine each city’s final score. The city with the best average ranking received a score of 100. The city with the lowest average ranking received a 0.

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