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Miami Is the Second Worst Place to Raise Kids in America, Study Says

Coke. Corruption. Fake breasts galore. Miami has never exactly embraced its family-friendly side. But here's some more bad news for baby mamas: A recent study has ranked the Magic City the second worst place to raise a child in the country, just above Detroit. Ouch. See also: Florida Is the...
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Coke. Corruption. Fake breasts galore. Miami has never exactly embraced its family-friendly side.

But here's some more bad news for baby mamas: A recent study has ranked the Magic City the second worst place to raise a child in the country, just above Detroit. Ouch.

See also: Florida Is the Most Stressed State in America, Study Says

The study, conducted by WalletHub, looked at 150 U.S. cities and ranked them according to 31 metrics, including playgrounds per capita, quality of school and health-care systems, job availability, and housing costs. In five categories -- Family Activities and Fun; Health and Safety; Education and Child Care; Affordability; and Socioeconomic Environment -- Miami didn't even crack the top 100, scoring highest in Health and Safety (120th) and lowest in Affordability (149th).

Particularly damning statistics for Miami include its low median family salary, the second lowest in the nation after Newark, New Jersey, and its housing costs, which rank 146th in affordability.

Miami is the main culprit, but the rest of South Florida didn't fare much better. Hialeah has the second fewest playgrounds per capita. Pembroke Pines has the lowest number of attractions, and Fort Lauderdale is among cities with the fewest families with kids -- and the highest divorce rate.

Not surprisingly, Fort Lauderdale ranked only slightly higher than Miami at 142, followed by Hialeah at 141. Other Florida cities named include Orlando (114), Tallahassee (107), Tampa (102), Jacksonville (99), and St. Petersburg (100). No Florida city cracked the top quarter of the list; the highest-ranked one, Pembroke Pines, came in at 44.

The study reconfirms last year's findings by the Daily Beast, which named Miami among the worst places to have a baby in the United States.

Sorry, Magic City kids, but it looks like your childhood isn't actually that magical.

Follow Ciara LaVelle on Twitter @ciaralavelle.

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