Greatest Western States For Raising Families-Is Montana The Best?

We all like to believe that Montana is the best. I mean we even call our state the "Last Best Place." When it comes to raising families just how does Montana compare to our neighboring states? Are we better or worse than those surrounding us?

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WalletHub.com recently released their list for 2023 where they laid out the Best and Worst States to raise a family. Here is what WalletHub said they based their list on,

In order to determine the best states to raise a family, WalletHub compared the 50 states across five key dimensions: 1) Family Fun, 2) Health & Safety, 3) Education & Child Care, 4) Affordability and 5) Socio-economics.

Surprisingly one of the states neighboring Montana came in at #4.

North Dakota

That's right our northern neighbor to the east is one of the top 5 best places to raise a family.  Here are their rankings:

• Total Score - 59.60
• Family Fun - 32
• Health & Safety - 16
• Education & Child Care - 1
• Affordability - 16
• Socio-economics - 1

South Dakota

The other Dakota (or as we South Dakota natives call it, the better Dakota) came in at #14. Here are their rankings:

• Total Score - 55.45
• Family Fun - 30
• Health & Safety - 12
• Education & Child Care - 11
• Affordability - 25
• Socio-economics - 7

Wyoming

Our neighbor to the south came in ranked at #27. Here are their rankings:

• Total Score - 49.60
• Family Fun - 37
• Health & Safety - 11
• Education & Child Care - 16
• Affordability - 45
• Socio-economics - 12

Idaho

Finally our neighbor to the west came in ranked at #35. Here are their rankings:

• Total Score - 45.74
• Family Fun - 39
• Health & Safety - 18
• Education & Child Care - 43
• Affordability - 44
• Socio-economics - 9

Montana

So just where did Montana stack up compared to our neighbors? Well we were better than Idaho and Wyoming, but worse than North and South Dakota. We came in right smack dab in the middle at #25. Here are our rankings:

• Total Score - 50.49
• Family Fun - 34
• Health & Safety - 24
• Education & Child Care - 18
• Affordability - 46
• Socio-economics - 3

So are we the best in the west? Not exactly, but we aren't the worst. Here's hoping as the future becomes the present Montana improves in the rankings.