SmartAsset, an online financial resource company, named Austin No. 9 on its best places to raise a family chart.
It looked at cost of living, cost of child care, math and reading scores for students, high school graduation rates, age of the population and poverty rate. We tied with Corpus Christi. In fact, five of the top 10 were Texas cities with Fort Worth coming in at No. 3, Arlington at No. 4 and El Paso at No. 8.
Daniel McLean, 7, gets excited as he runs behind a kite with Julian Martinez during the 86th annual ABC Zilker Kite Festival in 2015.(RICARDO B. BRAZZIELL / AMERICAN-STATESMAN
The top two cities were Fort Wayne, Ind., at No. 1, and Lincoln, Neb., at N0 2. Boise, Idaho ranked No. 5, Omaha, Neb., at No. 6, and Oklahoma City at N0. 7.
But really, who would want to live in Fort Wayne? It had cost of living and high high school graduation rates going for it.
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SmartAsset said this about Austin:
“Austin has many advantages to offer a potential family, including a poverty rate of only 14.5% and an unemployment rate of only 4.2%. The largest city in our top 10, Austin also has some good schools. The average proficiency rate in math and reading in Austin schools is 81.5%. One thing to keep in mind is that the population skews slightly older. Only 24.5% of its population is age 19 and under.”
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