BusinessWeek’s second annual roundup of the best places to raise your kids.
This year we are going state by state. Once again working with OnBoard Informatics, a New York-based provider of real estate analysis, we selected towns with at least 50,000 residents and a median family income between $40,000 and $100,000.
We then narrowed the list of towns using the following weighted criteria: school performance; number of schools; household expenditures; crime rates; air quality; job growth; family income; museums, parks, theaters, and other amenities; and diversity.
Nearest city: Huntsville
Population: 162,819
Median household income: $69,000
Families don’t have to leave Huntsville to find fun things to do.
The city is best known as the home of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, where scientists designed space rockets in the 1950s and visitors now come for interactive exhibits, rides, and movies.
The 104-acre Huntsville Botanical Garden has a new Children’s Garden and Nature Center, which claims to have the nation’s largest seasonal butterfly house.
Runners-up:
Dothan
Hoover
