Best & Worst Places To Raise A Family In CA: LIST

CALIFORNIA – Whether you are currently expecting or already have children, deciding where to raise your family is an important decision. In an effort to help you choose the perfect city to call "home," a new report by WalletHub ranked the best and worst places to raise a family.

The experts at the personal finance website compared the family-friendliness of more than 180 cities across the country based on 46 key metrics. The data set ranges from the cost of housing to the quality of schools.

Irvine in Orange County came in as the second-best place in the U.S. and the top place in California to raise a family, according to the report. Only Overland Park, Kansas, beat out the city.

Irvine has the fewest violent crimes per 1,000 residents at 0.57, which is 35.9 times fewer than in Detroit, the city with the most at 20.47, according to the report. The city also has the lowest share of families receiving food stamps at 2.98 percent, which is 16.4 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest at 48.95 percent.

Fremont in the Bay Area is the next highest ranked city in the Golden State, coming in as the third-best place to raise a family, according to the report. The city has the lowest share of families living in poverty at 3.3 percent, which is 10.5 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest at 34.7 percent.

Huntington Beach ranked ninth and is the only other city in California to crack the top 10.

San Bernardino is the worst place in the state to raise a family, according to the report. The city ranked 176th. The worst place in the country? Newark, New Jersey. At 182nd, the city landed last on the list.

Click here to read the full report and methodology. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news from your California neighborhood. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

These are the cities in California that made the rankings. National rankings are in parenthesis:

1. Irvine (2)
2. Fremont (3)
3. Huntington Beach (9)
4. San Jose (16)
5. San Diego (24)
6. San Francisco (36)
7. Rancho Cucamonga (37)
8. Santa Rosa (40)
9. Sacramento (41)
10. Santa Clarita (45)
11. Chula Vista (51)
12. Modesto (70)
13. Garden Grove (73)
14. Oceanside (75)
15. Bakersfield (84)
16. Glendale (93)
17. Oxnard (96)
18. Anaheim (98)
19. Fontana (101)
20. Los Angeles (115)
21. Riverside (116)
22. Oakland (121)
23. Long Beach (122)
24. Moreno Valley (134)
25. Ontario (139)
26. Fresno (140)
27. Stockton (141)
28. Santa Ana (157)
29. San Bernardino (176)

Image via Shutterstock