Best States To Have A Baby: How Illinois Ranks

ILLINOIS — Earlier this year, WalletHub took a look at the best cities in Illinois to raise a family. Now, the consumer finance site said it's revealed the best states in the nation to have a baby. So where does Illinois fall on the list?

According to WalletHub, the Land of Lincoln is a slightly above-average place to have a child. Illinois came in at No. 21 on the list, which ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia. (Get Patched In: Subscribe to free daily email, news alerts, Facebook fun and more from Patch)

How did they come up with the results? "To determine the most ideal places in the U.S. to have a baby, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 26 key measures of cost, health care accessibility, as well as baby- and family-friendliness," WalletHub said. "Our data set ranges from hospital conventional-delivery charges to annual average infant-care costs to pediatricians per capita."

Illinois came in at No. 24 when it came to health care accessibility, No. 20 in baby-friendliness and 15 in family-friendliness.

The best place in the U.S. to have a baby is Vermont, according to the study, and the worst is Mississippi. Maryland and North Dakota were among the states with the lowest costs of both conventional and Cesarean delivery. The highest delivery costs were seen in states including Florida, Nevada, California, New Jersey, Colorado and Rhode Island, according to the study.

The lowest infant mortality rates were seen in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey and California. Vermont also had the most pediatricians and family doctors per capita as well as the most child-care centers per capita.

These were the top 5 states:

• Vermont
• Massachusetts
• Minnesota
• New Hampshire
• North Dakota

These states were the 5 worst places to have a baby, according to the study:

• Mississippi
• Alabama
• South Carolina
• Louisiana
• Oklahoma

Read the full results here.

Photo via Shutterstock