When most people decide where they are going to live, raising a family is one of the main factors.

Of course parents want the best environment when they are raising their kids. Schools, the neighborhood, financial challenges and cost of living all play a part in their decision.

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To help people make that important decision, the folks at wallethub.com have done the tough job for you. They recently compared the 50 states using 51 key indicators of where the best places to raise a family are. They used data ranges from a number of different categories to determine the outcome.

They looked at states who had the best health and safety, states that had the most family fun, of course education and child care was a big factor, and also the affordability of each state and finally socio-economics.

Then they factored in some 51 relevant metrics, each graded on a 100 point scale, with a score of 100 being the best conditions for family life.

For the first time since wallethub.com started putting their surveys together, this one also contains data on how well the state is handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Once all these factors were weighed, and the metrics of each category scored, both Connecticut and New York State made it into the top 10.

New York scored the second highest in the nation, and Connecticut was not that far behind as the seventh best place in the country to raise a family.

New York had an overall combined score of 61.81, and Connecticut's overall combined score was 57.67.

Connecticut ranked higher than New York in Health and Safety, Affordability, and Socio-Economics, and New York scored a better ranking in Family Fun, and Education and Child Care.

So I bet you're wondering what state came in at #1 for the best place to raise a family. Well that state was Massachusetts followed by New York, Vermont, Minnesota and Nebraska. The five states with the lowest rankings include Oklahoma, South Carolina, Louisiana, New Mexico and Mississippi.

Here's a look at the entire map, just hoover over each state to see their individual ranking.

Source: WalletHub

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