(WWLP) – As families look to settle, they may want to find a location that best suits their personal needs and is affordable during high inflation. Along with hopes of finding schools, healthcare, and entertainment that are of high quality.

In WalletHub’s recent study, it compared the US’s 50 states across five key dimensions to identify the best and worst states to raise a family, such as family fun, health and safety, education and child care, affordability, and socio-economics. An amount of 51 key indicators of family-friendliness were used to evaluate those dimensions.

The actual best state to raise a family you may ask? A study finds that Massachusetts is the best state to raise a family, due to its low infant mortality rate, high rate of COVID vaccinations, and fairly low rate of families in poverty, among other factors.

22News spoke with one local resident about her experiences of living in the Commonwealth.

“We love it because there is so much to do,” said Miira Gates of Easthampton. “Play groups, lots of children’s museums, playgrounds. In the winter, it’s harder but there is still plenty to do. We were just at the Westfield Children’s Museum this morning.”

Massachusetts received a total score of 66.14. Minnesota ranked second with a score of 62.07, and in third, New York with 61.11. Massachusetts accounts for a combination of qualities suitable for parents and their children to bring it to the number one spot. When divided up into individual categories, Massachusetts received second overall in education and child care and affordability. Health and safety have been ranked as the fifth highest.

The U.S. Census Bureau indicates that a total of 6,981,974 people make up the state’s population as of July 1, 2022. While Massachusetts amount of households is 2,714,448 between the years 2017 and 2021.

Ranking of each state

To find the costs of living for each town in Massachusetts click here.