This California city named best place in US to raise a family

Kendrick Marshall, The Sacramento Bee on Jun 3, 2025

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A California city is the best place in the nation to raise a family, according to WalletHub.

The personal finance website recently released its list of the Best and Worst Places to Raise a Family in the United States in 2025, based on factors including housing costs, recreation opportunties and the quality of local schools and health care systems.

Fremont ranked No. 1 overall.

“Finding the best place to raise a family is difficult, between balancing an affordable cost of living with good educational opportunities, safety and enough recreation to keep kids entertained,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo wrote in an article published on May 27.

“Current or prospective parents can benefit from narrowing down their choices to a few of the best cities that are within a reasonable drive,” he added.

In total, 26 California cities landed on WalletHub list.

Why is Fremont the best place to raise a family?

Fremont scored first place on WalletHub’s list of the best U.S. cities for families, earning an overall score of 73.53 out of 100.

The Bay Area city had an estimated population of 228,192 residents in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Nearly 50% of households have children under 18, WalletHub said, one of the highest rates in the United States.

Fremont boasts one of the highest median household incomes in the nation, at $176,350 a year, Census data showed.

According to WalletHub, the city had the third-lowest share of families living in poverty in the nation and the third-lowest share receiving food stamps

Fremont also ranked No. 1 in socioeconomics, second in child care and education, fourth in health, and ninth in affordability, WalletHub said.

Other factors that make Fremont a good spot for families include a high percentage of top-rated public schools and plentiful parkland acres per capita, according to the personal finance website.

Where did other California cities rank?

In total, 26 California cities landed on WalletHub’s list of the best places in the nation to raise families.

Irvine took fourth place, while San Diego came in 10th place.

Huntington Beach barely missed the top 10, landing at No. 11

Further down in the rankings, Sacramento landed at No. 41, while Modesto was No. 79 and Fresno was No. 124.

How did WalletHub come up with rankings?

To determine the best and worse cities for families, WalletHub said it compared a sample of 182 cities in the United States based on 42 key metrics, including:

•Family fun

•Health and safety

•Education and child care

•Affordability

•Socioeconomics

The personal finance website graded each metric on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing “the most favorable conditions for family life.”

WalletHub calculated each city’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and ranked them in order based on the resulting scores.

Data came from the U.S. Census Bureau, TripAdvisor, Yelp, Numbeo and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

WalletHub also sought data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.