It turns out five of the ten worst cities for Florida families are right here in Miami-Dade.
To get its results, WalletHub ranked each city using four factors. "Family Life & Fun" includes things like number of playgrounds and attractions, average commute time to work, and weather. "Education, Health & Safety" considers factors such as high-school graduation rate, number of uninsured children, and crime rates. "Affordability" looks at housing affordability and cost of living. "Socioeconomic Environment" tallies the divorce rate, the wealth gap, the foreclosure rate, and the number of families living below the poverty line.
Turns out the worst city in Florida to raise a family is Hallandale Beach. Yes, it's in Broward, but it's also right on the county line and starts the trend for South Florida cities ranking low.
The City of Miami comes in as the second worst. The city ranks decently for family life and fun, at 32nd, but is low in all the other rankings: 97th in education, health, and safety; 115th (dead last) for affordability; and 114th for socioeconomic environment.
WalletHub provided New Times highlights of some of the individual factors:
66th – Percentage of Families With Children Younger Than Age 18But Miami doesn't sit alone near the bottom. The third-worst city is North Miami. Hialeah is seventh and is second-to-last for affordability. Miami Gardens is eighth and Miami Beach ninth, coming in third-worst in the state for education, health, and safety.
115th – Median Family Income (cost-of-living-adjusted)
53rd – Quality of School System
36th – High-School Graduation Rate
94th – Violent-Crime Rate per Capita
115th – Housing Affordability
112th – Percentage of Families Below Poverty Level
76th – Unemployment Rate
106th – Divorce Rate
The best place to raise a family in Miami-Dade is Palmetto Bay. It cracked the top ten.
Here's where some other Miami-Dade city ranks on the list:
10 - Palmetto Bay
14 - Coral Gables
37 - Doral
50 - Miami Lakes
59 - Cutler Bay
94 - Hialeah Gardens
96 - North Miami Beach
102 - Sunny Isles Beach
104 - Homestead
107 - Miami Beach
108 - Miami Gardens
109 - Hialeah
113 - North Miami
114 - Miami