California cities rank among country's best and worst places to raise kids, study says

ByRob McMillan and ABC7.com staff KABC logo
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Riverside one of worst places to raise kids, study says
Riverside is one of the worst places in the United States to raise children, while San Jose ranks among the best, according to a new Brandeis study.

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- California has some of the best and worst places for raising children, according to a new study from Brandeis University.

The Child Opportunity Index ranks Bakersfield and Fresno with the lowest scores among metro areas across the country. The Riverside area was fifth worst.

Second best place to raise children is San Jose, which ranked just below Madison, Wisconsin.

The study measured the odds of children achieving economic success and good health. It looked at a range of 29 factors that contribute to healthy child development, looking at issues such as education, health, environment as well as economic conditions.

Los Angeles and Orange Counties were 16th worst.