WalletHub Ranks Washington’s Best Cities For Families

Planning on moving to Washington and putting down roots?

Then, consider moving to one of these four cities that are among the best places to raise a family.

WalletHub ranked 182 of America's largest cities to determine which are the best for starting and raising a family in 2025.

Four Cities in Washington Make the WalletHub Roundup

Cities were ranked based on education quality, housing costs, healthcare accessibility and affordability, as well as a variety of recreational activities suitable for the whole family.

In ascending order, Tacoma ranked as the 4th best city in Washington for families. Overall, it placed 132nd for having a strong rating for education and child care, as well as affordability.

However, its reputation was tarnished for having one of the worst scores for health and safety, ranking 178th among all 182 cities in the survey. Tacoma also ranked near the bottom for a lack of family-friendly activities.

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Further up the list, in 97th place nationally and third best in the state, was Vancouver, Washington, which also scored well in affordability and education. The Clark County city had an average socio-economic ranking.

Coming up as Washington's second-best city to raise a family and 81st place nationally was Spokane.  The city's strongest showing was in affordability.

Claiming the title of best in state was Seattle, which ranked 6th nationally. It achieved one of the highest scores in the nation in terms of affordability, education, and child care. It also had a strong socio-economic ranking.

WalletHub's Map of all 182 ranked cities 

Chip Lupo, a WalletHub analyst, says parents balance numerous factors when deciding where to live. "On top of all of these factors, people also often want to raise their children close to their extended family."

Lupo noted that the 182 mentioned cities are, hopefully, "within a reasonable drive of their family."