Where is best state to raise a family? Georgia ranks best in South, high across US
Home is where the heart is and, according to Zencare, the Peach State has a wonderful heart. Georgia ranked the 10th best state to live in for families and was also the highest ranked southern state on the list.
Curious about which state was ranked number one? At the top of the list, New Jersey stands as the best state to live in for families.
How are the rankings determined?
Zencare’s study examined all 50 states with eight key environmental factors to determine which are the best and worst states for families. The eight factors are: cost of living, divorce rate, mental health care, opportunity, graduation rate, hospital availability, state and national parks and diversity.
We decided to break down all eight factors for GA and here’s what we found:
1. Cost of Living
The cost of living is determined by housing, food and healthcare costs and is used to compare these costs by location to ultimately see which locations are more expensive and more affordable.
According to the World Population Review, Georgia is ranked the ninth lowest in the country for cost of living. The state stands at an 89.2 on the cost of living index. This is not far behind Kansas (89) and Michigan (88.9), but Georgia is fairly different from first place. The review deemed Hawaii as the most expensive place to live. “The cost of living in Hawaii is 96.3% higher than the U.S. average.”
2. Divorce Rate
Divorces can be very challenging for families, both emotionally and financially. According to the World Population Review, about 90% of people in Western cultures get married by age 50 and about half of those marriages end in divorce.The three most common reasons for divorces are incompatibility, infidelity and money issues.
Georgia’s divorce rate is 11%, which is the 35th highest in the country.
Maine and Nevada round out the top two states with the highest divorce rates (14%), while California is the state with the lowest divorce rate (9%).
3. Mental Health Care
Because Zencare was founded to help people find qualified therapists, their rankings focused on criteria that aided in the health and well being of family members. Families are more likely to thrive when they live in a state where mental health is prioritized.
According to a study by Mental Health America, Georgia is ranked 36 on the scale for “both adult and youth measures as well as prevalence and access to care measures.”
The scale breaks down the care measures into 15 categories, some of which include adults with substance use disorder in the past year, mental health workforce availability, and youth with at least one major depressive episode in the past year.
4. Opportunity
Zencare defines this factor as “affordability, economic opportunity, and gender and race parity to measure a state’s capacity to provide opportunity.”
Georgia ranked the 13th best state for overall opportunity on the USA News Opportunity Rankings Study. For affordability, Georgia ranked 13th; economic opportunity, 31st; and equality, 21st.
5. Graduation Rates
Sites like realtor.com include school ratings in listings because access to education can be a deciding factor when choosing a place to live.
Georgia comes in with an 87% graduation rate for high school or higher, with the country’s average at 89.6%.
6. Hospital Availability
In 2020, we saw a shortage of hospital beds and a struggle to replenish needed supplies in the fight against COVID-19; however, Georgia ranked high on the Zencare hospital availability scale.
Georgia is the eighth best state for hospital availability, as it has 112 hospitals and 22,533 staffed beds, according to the American Hospital Directory.
7. State and National Parks
When in doubt, get out into nature.
Although it is ranked 39th on the Zencare scale for the State and National Parks category, Georgia has several beautiful and historical places to take a nature stroll, hike or even camping trip with the family.
Georgia is home to numerous State Parks such as Crooked River, Red Top Mountain and Sweetwater Creek. The National Historical Park of the Ocmulgee Mounds in Macon is worth a trip as well as the National Seashore of Cumberland Island.
8. Diversity
Is living in a diverse state important to you?
Zencare’s last (but not least) category is diversity, which covers “population, diversity in the workplace, communities and systems.”
While the highest ranked state for overall diversity is California and the state ranked the least diverse is West Virginia, Georgia fared pretty well as the 13th best state for diversity.
While GA is one of the top states ranked in hospital care, opportunity and diversity it does have some improvement to do as far as mental healthcare and graduation rates.
How do these factors rank on your family’s list? Let us know!
This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 5:50 AM.
