Idaho city ranked among the top 10 places to raise a family. Which one?
Looking for a place to settle down?
An Idaho city is one of the best places to raise a family in the nation, according to a new study by WalletHub. The personal finance website compared 180 U.S. cities to discover the best — and worst — spots for parents and their children, based on housing costs, healthcare, schools, recreation and other factors
“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,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo wrote in a Tuesday, May 26, article.
Parents are also searching for places that are relatively close to family members, Lupo said.
Here’s which Idaho city made the list — and why:
What makes Boise one of best places to raise kids?
Boise was No. 10 on WalletHub’s list of the best cities for raising a family, with a total score of 64.5 out of 100.
The City of Trees scored highest in the health and safety category, which looked at everything from air quality, traffic fatalities and violent crime rates to public hospital rankings, infant mortality rates and pediatricians per capita.
Three Boise-area hospitals scored “A” grades for safety in The Leapfrog Group’s latest report, the Idaho Statesman previously reported.
St. Luke’s Boise Medical Center, St. Luke’s Meridian Medical Center and West Valley Medical Center in Caldwell all received high marks for their efforts to “protect patients from medical errors, accidents, injuries and infections,” the nonprofit organization said.
According to WalletHub, Boise ranked among the top 25 cities in the nation in terms of affordability and socioeconomics.
Those categories looked at cost of living and housing affordability as well as debt, divorce rates, unemployment and the share of families receiving food stamps.
However, the city scored lower when it came to education and childcare.
It’s not the first time Idaho’s capital city has been recognized as an ideal place to raise kids.
In 2025, Elevate named Boise the No. 1 city for working families in the nation, thanks to its short commutes, low crime rates and access to green spaces, the Statesman previously reported.
Did other Idaho cities make a list?
Boise was the highest-ranking city on WalletHub’s list of the top spots for raising kids.
Nampa was No. 71 on the list.
What are the top 10 cities to raise a family?
According to WalletHub, these were the top 10 places to raise a family in 2026:
- Fremont, California
- Overland Park, Kansas
- Irvine, California
- Plano, Texas
- Columbia, Maryland
- Bismarck, North Dakota
- South Burlington, Vermont
- Charleston, South Carolina
- Seattle
- Boise
How did WalletHub rank best cities for families?
To determine which cities are most conducive to family life, WalletHub said it compared 182 U.S. cities — the 150 most populated cities in the nation, at least two of the most populated cities in each state — across five key categories.
Those categories were:
- Family fun: Walkability, weather and playgrounds, skate parks and mini golf facilities per capita
- Health and safety: Air quality, driving fatalities, violent crimes and pediatricians per capita
- Education and childcare: Childcare costs, school system quality and high school graduation rates
- Affordability: Cost of living, housing affordability and wallet wellness
- Socioeconomics: Divorce, foreclosure and unemployment rates, plus share of families living in poverty
Data came from sources including the FBI, TripAdvisor, Yelp U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
