Top California cities to raise a family

Are you California dreaming? If you have ever wondered what it would be like to up and move your family to the Golden State, there’s now some answers to help you decide. In fact, with California’s economy now the fifth largest in the world, many are indeed seriously considering relocating to the state, but which cities are best? Is Northern California better for families than Southern California? Where is the least amount of crime?

A recent report entitled 2018’s Best Places to Raise a Family in California and tackles which cities you might want to consider uprooting your family; you might be surprised which ones are best for setting down roots.

To help families, find the best California cities to settle down, WalletHub compared 254 Golden State cities across 21 key metrics. They range from “number of attractions” to “pediatricians per capita” to “unemployment rate.”

So, if you have dreamed of living in a beach city, suburbia, or a large city in California but never quite knew which locale would be best for you and yours, check out this table below.

Best vs. worst

If you want a city that has a lot of kids for your own kids to join in with, the city of Adelanto has the highest share of families with kids under 18 years old, 65.29 percent, which is 3.2 percent higher than in West Hollywood, the city with the lowest at 20.39 percent.

If you are looking for a quiet city where there seems to be little to low violence, you might want to consider relocating to Danville, said to have the lowest violent-crime rate per 1,000 residents, 0.20, which is 71.3 times lower than in Oakland, the city with the highest at 14.26.

As for where the money is, El Dorado Hills has the highest median annual family income (adjusted for cost of living), $86,880, which is three times higher than in Adelanto, the city with the lowest at $28,524.

Perhaps you want to settle down where there are complete families versus single parents, if so, Cupertino has the lowest separation and divorce rate, 7.51 percent, which is 4.4 times lower than in West Hollywood, the city with the highest at 33.10 percent.

Incidentally, Danville made the list twice and also has the lowest share of families living in poverty, 1.6 percent, which is 24.6 times lower than in Adelanto, the city with the highest at 39.4 percent.

To view the full report and your city’s ranking, please click here

Regardless of where you decide to relocate with your family, be sure everyone is on board with the move, as well as starting fresh in a new city. You might also want to explore other amenities the city offers such as transportation, schools, shopping, commute time and job market.