These Are the Best (and Worst) Cities for Single Parents

Single moms and dads know that raising a family on your own is really challenging. But not everyone realizes that the place you live can impact how hard it is. Some cities are more welcoming, affordable, and supportive places to live for single moms and dads than others. Housing prices, safety, child care, support services, health care costs, public transportation, and wages vary greatly from place to place. These factors influence your quality of life and ability to make ends meet.

Sometimes just moving to a different place can make a big difference for single-parent families. Read on to learn more about the best (and worst) places to live for single moms and dads.

Why Where You Live Matters for Single Parents

As of 2023, more than 18 million children were living with a single parent in the United States. It's a figure that has been rising for decades, and according to the Pew Research Center, the U.S. now has more single-parent households than any other country in the world.

The share of children living with single mothers, in particular, has nearly doubled over the past 50 years, according to a report from 24/7 Wall St.

For more than a few of these households, making ends meet on a single income can be daunting, particularly at a time when inflation is ratcheting up the price of everything from food to gas. The cost of housing is generally the most significant expense for families, and that 24/7 Wall St. report suggests it's an especially heavy burden for single mothers who earn 45.3% of the national median for all households.

The good news is that certain metros are better equipped to set single parents up for success based on things like the average income for area residents and the cost of expenses like housing and child care. A variety of data-crunching organizations have come up with lists designed to help point single parents to more affordable regions. Learn more about the best places to live for single moms and dads.

The Best Places To Live for Single Moms and Dads

There are many great places to live and everyone has their own criteria. But there are measures you can use to identify cities that are the best for single parents. In 2019, for instance, the insurance company Fabric analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data to come up with 10 cities that may be more affordable options for single parents.

The company looked at US cities with at least 350,000 people to score them on average income, employment rates, cost of living (specifically housing and child care), education levels, and length of commutes.

Here are the 10 cities that ranked the highest:

1. Ann Arbor, Michigan
2. Lansing, Michigan
3. Austin, Texas
4. Asheville, North Carolina
5. Little Rock, Arkansas
6. Wichita, Kansas
7. Raleigh, North Carolina
8. Omaha, Nebraska
9. Huntsville, Alabama
10. Naples, Florida

If you look at the entire country, the median income for a single-parent household is $37,100—and it ranges from $22,000 to $78,000 in cities across the US.

In the top spot Ann Arbor, Michigan, the average income is $55,350 with what Fabric defines as an average cost of living. In Lansing, Michigan, it's $46,390, with a below-average cost of living. Nearly all of the top 10 cities had a good ratio of cost of living to cost of housing—housing costs accounted for less than 25% of a single parent's income in all but Naples, Florida (which was reported as 27%).

Of course, budget isn't the only concern. Time is precious when you're a parent, especially a single one. All 10 cities on this list had average commute times of less than one hour each day. And less commuting time means more quality time at home with your kid(s)—that's a win in any parent's book.

In 2016, the personal finance website WalletHub released a survey that focused solely on single moms in cities across the country. The site's report, Best & Worst Cities for Single Moms, looked at a variety of metrics across 150 cities that would make life easier for parents raising children on their own, such as housing affordability and access to adequate child care.

Here are the 20 cities that ranked the highest:

1. Scottsdale, Arizona
2. Madison, Wisconsin
3. Fremont, California
4. San Francisco, California
5. Seattle, Washington
6. Pembroke Pines, Florida
7. Irvine, California
8. Honolulu, Hawaii
9. Sioux Falls, South Dakota
10. Overland Park, Kansas
11. Plano, Texas
12. Des Moines, Iowa
13. Omaha, Nebraska
14. Raleigh, North Carolina
15. Orlando, Florida
16. Huntington Beach, California
17. Gilbert, Arizona
18. Little Rock, Arizona
19. Tacoma, Washington
20. Rancho Cucamonga, California

Gilbert, Arizona, ranked high (#17) because it boasts the highest median annual income for single moms at $46,856. Meanwhile, Brownsville, Texas, ranked low (#119) because at 61.2% it has the highest percentage of uncoupled moms with underaged children living below the poverty level.

In #7 Irvine, California, more than half of single moms hold at least a bachelor's degree! And Lexington-Fayette, Kentucky, (#61) has the highest number of child care workers per 1,000 children aged 13 and younger, so access to quality child care is a reality for many.

Among the worst cities on this list was Los Angeles, where it can be extremely hard to find affordable housing.

Finally, the 24/7 Wall St. report (which was last updated in January 2020) identifies some of the best and worst cities for single moms as well. Its analysis is based on a variety of social and economic indicators tied to income, with a particular focus on housing affordability, access to early child care and education, and public transportation.

Based on these factors, the report points out that "single mothers earning the median wage would need to work as few as 47 hours a week to afford a typical two-bedroom apartment in Bloomsburg-Berwick, Pennsylvania. In Honolulu, Hawaii, however, they would need to work as many as 152 hours a week—an impossible feat."

Here are the cities that 24/7 Wall St. says are the best for single moms based on its affordability analysis:

1. Norwich-New London, Connecticut
2. Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Connecticut
3. Cedar Rapids, Iowa
4. Bridgeport-Stamford, Norwalk, Connecticut
5. Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina
6. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
7. Trenton, New Jersey
8. Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
9. Boulder, Colorado
10. La Crosse-Onalaska, Wisconsin-Minnesota

Raising a family is often more challenging for single parents. But where you live can make a big difference. If you're looking to move, consider picking a place that's more hospitable for families with one parent, such as cities with higher wages, good public transportation, access to child care, and more affordable housing.