Washington’s Best Family-friendly Cities Ranked

Are you thinking about moving to Washington and starting a family? If so, consider these four cities. They are some of the best places to raise a family.

WalletHub says parents balance numerous factors when deciding where to live. "On top of all of these factors, people also often want to raise their children close to their extended family."

Four Cities in Washington Make the WalletHub Roundup

Cities were ranked based on education quality, housing costs, healthcare accessibility and affordability, as well as a variety of recreational activities suitable for the whole family.

In ascending order, Tacoma ranked as the 4th best city in Washington for families. Overall, it ranked 132nd in America for its strong ratings in education and child care, as well as affordability.

However, its reputation was tarnished for having one of the worst scores for health and safety, ranking 178th among all 182 cities in the survey. Tacoma also ranked near the bottom for a lack of family-friendly activities.

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Further up the list, in 97th place nationally and third best in the state, was Vancouver, Washington, which also scored well in affordability and education. The Clark County city had an average socio-economic ranking.

Coming up as Washington's second-best city to raise a family and 81st place nationally was Spokane.  The city's strongest showing? Affordability.

Seattle is the best city in the state and ranks 6th in the nation. It received high scores for affordability, education, and child care. Seattle also has a strong socio-economic ranking.

WalletHub's Map of all 182 ranked cities 

WalletHub ranked 182 of America's largest cities to determine which are the best for starting and raising a family in 2025.

Lupo noted that the 182 mentioned cities are, hopefully, "within a reasonable drive of their family."