WV RANKS 47TH STATE TO RAISE A FAMILY - Study Used 42 Indicators

(01/14/2018)
West Virginia, a state with a high infant mortality rate, percentage of families living in poverty and with addiction, does not score well in a rating of best and worst states to raise a family.

The Mountain State is listed at No. 47 in the ranking by personal financial website WalletHub. Ohio is ranked No. 23 and Kentucky at No. 37.

WalletHub said it looked at 42 key indicators of family-friendliness, from median family salary to housing affordability to unemployment rate.

West Virginia ranked 50th for percentage of families with young kids; 28th for child-care costs; 39th for infant-mortality rate; 46th for median family salary; 24th for violent-crime rate; 40th for percentage of families in poverty; 10th for housing affordability; 46th for unemployment rate; and 36th for separation and divorce rate.

Ranking below West Virginia were Alabama, Mississippi and New Mexico.

The top three states to raise a family in order were Massachusetts, Minnesota and New Hampshire.