Sun-News Reports, Alamogordo Daily News
January 18, 2017
LAS CRUCES – WalletHub, a personal finance website that analyzes state and city indicators, announced its rankings Wednesday of the best and worst states to raise a family.
New Mexico ranked 51st in the analysis, which looked at 40 indicators in 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The indicators, grouped in five broad categories, assessed: family fun; health and safety; education and childcare; affordability; and socioeconomics. Some of the specific measures included median family salary, affordable housing, the divorce rate and unemployment rate.
Within the overall ranking, New Mexico scored the following:
- 32nd – percentage of families with kids
- 27th – child care costs (adjusted for median family income)
- 18th – infant mortality rate
- 43rd – median family salary (adjusted for cost of living)
- 48th – violent-crime rate
- 50th – percentage of families below poverty level
- 36th – housing affordability
- 48th – unemployment rate
- 46th – divorce rate
- 47th – percentage of two-parent families
North Dakota was the best place to raise a family, while New Hampshire was second-best, according to the report.
Trailing just behind New Mexico in the rankings was Mississippi, which scored 50th. The District of Columbia was 49th.
The WalletHub report comes on the heels of a New Mexico Voices for Children report, released Tuesday, that ranked New Mexico 49th among states for child well-being.
Copyright 2017, Alamogordo Daily News (http://www.alamogordonews.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/2017/01/18/report-nm-worst-place-raise-family/96718142/)