Homes.com's list of the 25 most family "friendliest" metropolitan cities in the United States puts three Texas cities – Dallas, Houston and San Antonio – in the top five.
The site’s "friendliest" cities map compares the top 25 metropolitan areas in the U.S. and rates them on their overall family-friendliness based on crime rate, cost of living, availability of child care services, average commute times, school quality, and park space per capita.
The factors were selected on how they can contribute to both a family's quality of life and a child’s development. Homes.com said its top 10 cities earned high marks in nearly all the factors analyzed.
The top 10 cities include:
1. Dallas: Texas's second largest city scored 37.67 points out of 50, ranking high in schools, parks, commute and cost of living. The city ranked low, though, for child care.
2. Charlotte, North Carolina: The city finished barely behind Dallas with an overall score of 37.42. Charlotte earned perfect scores for parks and cost of living and near perfect in crime and commute. The city, though, received its lowest scores in schools and one star for child care.
3. Houston: Texas' largest city, which earned an overall score of 37, had a perfect score for its parks, earned near perfect for cost of living and commute. It's lowest score came in crime.
4. Minneapolis: With an overall score of 36.58, Minneapolis earned perfect fives for parks and commute. Minneapolis, though, earned its lower scores for schools and cost of living.
5. San Antonio: Texas' third city on the ranking, with a score of 36.33, was awarded perfect scores for its parks, cost of living, and commute. Its overall score was dragged down by less than one point for child care.
6. Atlanta: With 35.92 overall points, Georgia's largest city scored well in parks and cost of living, but ranked low in child care.
7. Phoenix: Arizona's largest city earned 35.67 points, with its best scores coming from the cost of living, crime, commute, and parks categories.
8. Tampa, Florida: The city received 35.50 points, earning a perfect mark for its parks and commute with another high score for its cost of living.
9. Portland, Oregon: The city, which earned 34.42 points, also earned a perfect score for its parks and high marks for its commute, crime, and cost of living.
10. Boston: The historic city rounded out the top 10 with 33.25 points, topped by perfect score in the crime category and high marks in parks and schools.
The rest of the 25 cities included:
11. Denver, 33.17 points
12. Washington, D.C. 33.17 points
13. San Diego, 332.67 points
14. New York City, 32.58 points
15. Orlando, 31.92 points
16. Seattle, 31.75 points
17. Los Angeles, 31.50 points
18. Philadelphia, 31.25 points
19. Chicago, 30.92 points
20. St. Louis, Missouri, 29.08 points
21. Detroit, 28.75 points
22. Baltimore, 27.25 points
23. San Francisco, 25.08 points
24. Riverside, California, 23.92 points
25. Miami, 23.75 points
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