Best Places for Families Includes Cities in Minnesota and Iowa

When raising a family you want to be in a place that fosters your children's growth. But you also want a place that's good for you as a parent and as you age.

Fortune did their 3rd annual study this year of the best places for families to live in the US, including cities in Minnesota and Iowa.

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I don't know about you, but whenever I see 'best places for families' I automatically assume a family with grade school kids. But for this study, they're looking at the entire family and the family as they continue to age.

Fortune also pointed out that more and more people are caring for their kids as well as their parents now and so they took into consideration multi-generational households.

How They Determined the Best Places for Families in the US

In the study, Fortune found the best city in each state for families. In order to do this, they looked at many variables but they said that the ones that these top cities scored highly on include:

Health Care

Education

Affordability

Resources for Seniors

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The Best Cities for Families in the US

Before getting to Minnesota and Iowa's best places for families, these are what Fortune determined to be the top 5 best cities for families in the entire country:

5. Mason, OH

4. Ann Arbor, MI

3. Chantilly, VA

2. Upper Merion, PA

1. Silver Spring, MD

The Best Place for Families to Live in Iowa

According to Fortune's study, they determined that the best place for families in Iowa is in Iowa City.

Out of all of the top cities for families in the US, Iowa City ranked as the 24th best.

In 2023, Iowa City was also Iowa's best city for families and came in higher on the list than this year, at number 17. In 2022, it was Iowa City again and they came in at number 18.

The Best Places for Families to Live in Minnesota

As for Minnesota, Fortune says our best city for families is Woodbury.

Woodbury ranked quite highly, coming in as the 12th best city for families in the US.

Last year, in 2023, Eagan took the spot for the best place for families to live in Minnesota. They were number 11 in the entire country. In 2022, Woodbury was the city selected and they came in at number 14 that year.