This Bay Area Suburb Was Named the Best Place to Raise a Family for the Fourth Year in a Row

It’s no surprise that the happiest city in the U.S. is also the best place to raise a family in the U.S. Fremont, California—which WalletHub named the happiest city in America for the sixth year in a row back in March—was also just named the best place to raise a family in 2025. This is the fourth consecutive year it has been ranked number one.

To figure out the rankings, WalletHub compared more than 180 U.S. cities based on 45 key metrics, like cost of housing, playgrounds per capita, school-system quality, and child-care costs.

“Finding the best place to raise a family is difficult, between balancing an affordable cost of living with good educational opportunities, safety and enough recreation to keep kids entertained,” explains Chip Lupo, WalletHub analyst. “On top of all of these factors, people also often want to raise their children close to their extended family. Therefore, current or prospective parents can benefit from narrowing down their choices to a few of the best cities that are within a reasonable drive of their family.”

Fremont came out on top mostly because of economic factors. It has one of the highest median family incomes after adjusting for cost of living. It also scores well when it comes to education—58.3% of public schools are rated at least a 7 out of 10. The city also has many summer camp opportunities per capita and the fifth-most parkland acres per capita.

Fremont wasn’t the only Western city that made the top 10. Irvine, California, is number 4; Seattle, Washington, is number 6; Boise, Idaho is number 7; Gilbert, Arizona, is number 8; and San Diego, California, is number 10. 

And while some Western cities didn’t make the top 10, there were some notable mentions: Las Vegas has the most playgrounds per capita, and Scottsdale, Arizona, has the lowest share of families receiving food stamps. Take a look at the full top 10 list below.

10 Best Cities for Families

1. Fremont, California
2. Overland Park, Kansas
3. Plano, Texas
4. Irvine, California
5. South Burlington, Vermont
6. Seattle, Washington
7. Boise, Idaho
8. Gilbert, Arizona
9. Bismarck, North Dakota
10. San Diego, California