”Survey says” looks at various rankings and scorecards judging geographic locations while noting these grades are best seen as a mix of artful interpretation and data.
Buzz: Irvine is the nation’s third-best city to raise a family, and San Bernardino is the sixth-worst, according to a new ranking.
Source: My trusty spreadsheet took a Southern California spin through WalletHub’s annual ranking of 182 cities for their family-friendliness. This scorecard looked at 45 economic and demographic variables, creating grades for fun, health and safety, education and child care, affordability, and socio-economics – and then melded those scores into overall rankings.
Topline
Irvine got a No. 3 ranking thanks to its No. 1 ranking for health and safety, No. 3 for education and child care and No. 5 for its socio-economics. It also ranked 22nd for fun and 48th for affordability.
So, where were better places for families, by this math? Only the Bay Area’s Fremont and Overland Park, Kansas, ranked higher.
The No. 177 ranking for San Bernardino had just one bright spot: a fun ranking of 17th best. Other grades included health-safety (166th), education-child care (176th), affordability (176th), and socio-economics (143rd).
Where were the worse cities? Cleveland was at the bottom of this scorecard followed by Memphis, Detroit, Birmingham, Alabama, and Newark, New Jersey.
Bottom line
Remember when it comes to any “best places” ranking, beauty is in the eyes of the math.
This scorecard clearly seems to like California with five cities in the top 10 hailing from the Golden State. Following Fremont and Irvine was No. 6 San Diego, No. 7 San Jose and No. 10 San Francisco.
Numerous folks might find these lofty grades odd when considering that California’s population has dropped in recent years – with some economists suggesting the outflow is growing among the state’s wealthier taxpayers.
And California scores are helped in these rankings that have just 20% of the overall score tied to “affordability” issues.
So note the best cities on this scorecard from several states that draw many ex-Californians.
Texas’ Plano ranked No. 4, Arizona’s Scottsdale (8), Washington’s Seattle (11), Idaho’s Boise (18), Oregon’s Portland (30), Florida’s Pembroke Pines (40), Colorado’s Denver (41), Utah’s Salt Lake City (57), Nevada’s Las Vegas (63), Georgia’s Atlanta (80) and Tennessee’s Nashville (116).
Details
Other Southern California cities in this ranking …
No. 14 Huntington Beach: fun (79), health-safety (31), education-child care (4), affordability (82), socio-economics (9).
No. 35 Rancho Cucamonga: fun (83), health-safety (53), education-child care (18), affordability (106), socio-economics (11).
No. 48 Santa Clarita: fun (93), health-safety (4), education-child care (63), affordability (115), socio-economics (65).
No. 67 Glendale: fun (46), health-safety (10), education-child care (21), affordability (170), socio-economics (59).
No. 72 Garden Grove: fun (32), health-safety (49), education-child care (19), affordability (171), socio-economics (43).
No. 86 Los Angeles: fun (1), health-safety (63), education-child care (90), affordability (174), socio-economics (87).
No. 95 Anaheim: fun (39), health-safety (47), education-child care (65), affordability (172), socio-economics (37).
No. 115 Fontana: fun (33), health-safety (55), education-child care (160), affordability (164), socio-economics (46).
No. 117 Riverside: fun (57), health-safety (99), education-child care (131), affordability (156), socio-economics (48).
No. 121 Long Beach: fun (42), health-safety (48), education-child care (66), affordability (178), socio-economics (99).
No. 135 Moreno Valley: fun (43), health-safety (78), education-child care (179), affordability (167), socio-economics (73).
No. 144 Santa Ana: fun (104), health-safety (60), education-child care (123), affordability (179), socio-economics (26).
No. 146 Ontario: fun (58), health-safety (97), education-child care (169), affordability (169), socio-economics (49).
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com
Source: Orange County Register
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