Florida cities rank among best and worst places to raise a family

Port St. Lucie ranked No. 147 among 182 cities in the United States for places to raise a family in 2026, according to a WalletHub study.

Port St. Lucie ranked among the best places in the United States to raise a family in 2026, according to a WalletHub study.

The free personal finance website compared 182 cities in the United States to find the best and worst places to raise a family in 2026.

The website scored cities based on these criteria:

• Family fun
• Health and safety
• Education and child care
• Affordability
• Socio-economics

Port St. Lucie ranks for best places to raise a family

The rankings range from 1 to 182, with 1 being the best.

• Family fun rank: 179
• Health and safety rank: 40
• Education and child care rank: 160
• Affordability rank: 135
• Socioeconomics rank: 70
• Playgrounds per capita: 101
• Violent-crime per capita: 4
• Overall rank: 147

Top-ranked Florida cities to raise a family

• 49. Orlando
• 59. Tampa
• 60. Pembroke Pines
• 63. St. Petersburg
• 117. Jacksonville
• 123. Tallahassee
• 133. Cape Coral
• 147. Port St. Lucie
• 163. Miami
• 166. Fort Lauderdale
• 173. Hialeah

Best places to raise a family in 2026

• 1. Fremont, California
• 2. Overland Park, Kansas
• 3. Irvine, California
• 4. Plano, Texas
• 5. Columbia, Maryland
• 6. Bismarck, North Dakota
• 7. South Burlington, Vermont
• 8. Charleston, South Carolina
• 9. Seattle, Washington
• 10. Boise, Idaho

Olivia Franklin is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at olivia.franklin@tcpalm.com, 317-627-8048 or follow her on X @Livvvvv_5.