WalletHub, a financial media brand that conducts studies regularly on quality of life around the country, released its list of the 2019 best places to raise a family in Virginia on Jan. 23.
The number one city? Leesburg, with Vienna coming in second, Ashburn in fourth, Stone Ridge in sixth, South Riding in seventh and Falls Church in ninth.
Fairfax, Arlington and Fairfax Station also made it into the top 25, out of a total of 83 Virginia cities analyzed.
The study compared cities by four key dimensions: family life and fun, education, health and safety, affordability and socioeconomics. The dimensions were measured by 21 metrics and each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with 100 being the most suitable conditions for family life.
Examples of the metrics include playgrounds per capita and number of attractions for the family life and fun category; quality of school systems and high school graduation rates for education; violent crime rate per capita and pediatricians per capita for health and safety; housing affordability; and share of families living in poverty for the socioeconomics category.
Leesburg, Arlington and Alexandria ranked high for most attractions; McLean, Fairfax Station and South Riding ranked in the top five for highest median family income; Stone Ridge, South Riding and Chantilly are in the top five list of Virginia cities that have the most families with kids; and Vienna, Falls Church and Manassas Park ranked well for having the lowest violent crime rates per capita in the state.
To see the full study and findings, click here.
