Colorado is known for recreation: hiking, skiing and camping, to name a few. But as any native of the Centennial State will tell you, Colorado is much more diverse than it seems. And it’s all that diversity that makes Colorado an ideal place to raise children.
Filled with mountains, plains, valleys and deserts, Colorado boasts a much wider array of outdoor activities than most states. This abundance of natural beauty and fun has led to healthy living in the state: Coloradans are the least obese and most active people in the U.S.
Colorado even offers a diverse economy, filled with strong finance, real-estate and health-care industries, along with heavy federal investment into organizations such as the National Park System and the U.S. Air Force Academy. Add in one the lowest state unemployment rates and good school systems, and you’ve got a fantastic place to settle with the kids. It’s no surprise that this mountain state came in at No. 12 on WalletHub’s “Best & Worst States to Raise a Family” ranking.
But not all corners of Colorado are created equal. To determine the places in Colorado that are most conducive to family life, WalletHub’s analysts compared more than 60 cities in the state across 21 key indicators of family-friendliness. Our data set ranges from housing affordability to number of attractions to quality of school system. Read on for our findings, additional insight from a panel of researchers and a full description of our methodology.
