Fort Lauderdale at Bottom of List for Best Cities for Families

WalletHub, a website for banking and financial information, frequently releases rankings based on its data. On a list of the best cities for raising a family, Fort Lauderdale falls way, way, way at the bottom.

The company ranked 150 U.S. cities, basing the list on 30 criteria, from schools and health-care systems to playgrounds per 100,000 residents, separation and divorce rate to median family annual income. The result is 2015’s Best & Worst Cities for Families. 

The big winner? Overland Park, Kansas, according to WalletHub's ranking. The list is rounded out with Plano, Texas, at number two, then Virginia Beach, Virginia; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in the rest of the top five. 

South Florida has the ignominious honor of holding down the basement. The region's two major cities make appearances in the ten last slots on the list. Fort Lauderdale came in at number 143. Miami landed at 147. For sake of comparison, here is what the rest of the caboose looks like:

140. Hialeah, FL 
141. Washington, DC 
142. New Orleans, LA 
143. Fort Lauderdale, FL 
144. Shreveport, LA
145. Mobile, AL 
146. Baton Rouge, LA 
147. Miami, FL 
148. Detroit, MI 
149. Birmingham, AL 
150. Jackson, MS

Personally, I'd rather live in Fort Lauderdale or New Orleans or Detroit than Overland Park, Kansas, any day. But that's me. The highest Sunshine State location to make an appearance on the list is Pembroke Pines, landing at number 51. Other Florida towns making respectable appearances: Cape Coral (58); Port St. Lucie (70); Jacksonville (80); Tampa (86); St. Petersburg (87); Tallahassee (98); and Orlando (124).