Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on LawnStarter.
Motherhood is tough, and some new moms could use all the help they can get where they live.
Thankfully, many cities make the job easier for new moms.
So, which cities are best suited for bringing that bundle of joy into the world and helping new mothers adjust to the challenges of caring for their little one?
To rank the best cities for new moms, LawnStarter compared 174 of the biggest U.S. cities based on 43 signs of first-time-mom friendliness, sorted into seven categories. Among the key factors we looked at:
- Maternity care: Access to OB/GYNs and lactation spaces and quality of hospitals with maternity services
- Child care: Access to pediatricians and baby supply stores
- Mom protections: Strength of breastfeeding laws and amount of additional paid leave allowed for pregnancy and childbirth
- Affordability: Delivery and child care costs
Check out our top-ranked places next.
1. Salem, OR
Overall score: 54.2
Maternity care rank: 80
Child care rank: 41
Mom protections rank: 4
Affordability rank: 39
Support environment rank: 34
Socioeconomic environment rank: 115
Home and outdoor environments rank: 13
2. Portland, OR
Overall score: 52.21
Maternity care rank: 55
Child care rank: 32
Mom protections rank: 4
Affordability rank: 70
Support environment rank: 128
Socioeconomic environment rank: 39
Home and outdoor environments rank: 42
3. Jersey City, NJ
Overall score: 51.93
Maternity care rank: 6
Child care rank: 10
Mom protections rank: 1
Affordability rank: 152
Support environment rank: 11
Socioeconomic environment rank: 69
Home and outdoor environments rank: 136
4. Eugene, OR
Overall score: 51.88
Maternity care rank: 121
Child care rank: 9
Mom protections rank: 4
Affordability rank: 52
Support environment rank: 172
Socioeconomic environment rank: 113
Home and outdoor environments rank: 39
5. Yonkers, NY
Overall score: 49.95
Maternity care rank: 17
Child care rank: 12
Mom protections rank: 7
Affordability rank: 127
Support environment rank: 142
Socioeconomic environment rank: 98
Home and outdoor environments rank: 8
6. Paterson, NJ
Overall score: 49.21
Maternity care rank: 3
Child care rank: 27
Mom protections rank: 1
Affordability rank: 161
Support environment rank: 148
Socioeconomic environment rank: 138
Home and outdoor environments rank: 80
7. Sunnyvale, CA
Overall score: 49.16
Maternity care rank: 44
Child care rank: 19
Mom protections rank: 14
Affordability rank: 174
Support environment rank: 1
Socioeconomic environment rank: 2
Home and outdoor environments rank: 121
8. New York, NY
Overall score: 47.84
Maternity care rank: 103
Child care rank: 2
Mom protections rank: 7
Affordability rank: 130
Support environment rank: 132
Socioeconomic environment rank: 95
Home and outdoor environments rank: 58
9. Boston, MA
Overall score: 47.7
Maternity care rank: 23
Child care rank: 13
Mom protections rank: 12
Affordability rank: 132
Support environment rank: 163
Socioeconomic environment rank: 75
Home and outdoor environments rank: 26
10. Bellevue, WA
Overall score: 47.56
Maternity care rank: 22
Child care rank: 113
Mom protections rank: 53
Affordability rank: 134
Support environment rank: 5
Socioeconomic environment rank: 9
Home and outdoor environments rank: 37
11. Santa Rosa, CA
Overall score: 47.31
Maternity care rank: 20
Child care rank: 7
Mom protections rank: 14
Affordability rank: 166
Support environment rank: 122
Socioeconomic environment rank: 29
Home and outdoor environments rank: 52
12. Vancouver, WA
Overall score: 46.2
Maternity care rank: 31
Child care rank: 47
Mom protections rank: 53
Affordability rank: 120
Support environment rank: 62
Socioeconomic environment rank: 65
Home and outdoor environments rank: 36
13. Orange, CA
Overall score: 46.06
Maternity care rank: 19
Child care rank: 45
Mom protections rank: 14
Affordability rank: 155
Support environment rank: 6
Socioeconomic environment rank: 14
Home and outdoor environments rank: 162
14. Buffalo, NY
Overall score: 45.38
Maternity care rank: 166
Child care rank: 78
Mom protections rank: 7
Affordability rank: 87
Support environment rank: 17
Socioeconomic environment rank: 164
Home and outdoor environments rank: 31
15. Irvine, CA
Overall score: 45.34
Maternity care rank: 15
Child care rank: 55
Mom protections rank: 14
Affordability rank: 169
Support environment rank: 8
Socioeconomic environment rank: 18
Home and outdoor environments rank: 140
16. Arlington, VA
Overall score: 45.27
Maternity care rank: 1
Child care rank: 18
Mom protections rank: 89
Affordability rank: 105
Support environment rank: 4
Socioeconomic environment rank: 4
Home and outdoor environments rank: 7
17. Worcester, MA
Overall score: 44.99
Maternity care rank: 117
Child care rank: 111
Mom protections rank: 12
Affordability rank: 126
Support environment rank: 22
Socioeconomic environment rank: 112
Home and outdoor environments rank: 46
18. Salinas, CA
Overall score: 44.8
Maternity care rank: 14
Child care rank: 8
Mom protections rank: 14
Affordability rank: 149
Support environment rank: 152
Socioeconomic environment rank: 76
Home and outdoor environments rank: 143
19. Spokane, WA
Overall score: 44.71
Maternity care rank: 90
Child care rank: 109
Mom protections rank: 53
Affordability rank: 102
Support environment rank: 82
Socioeconomic environment rank: 127
Home and outdoor environments rank: 27
20. Sioux Falls, SD
Overall score: 44.47
Maternity care rank: 13
Child care rank: 1
Mom protections rank: 138
Affordability rank: 1
Support environment rank: 29
Socioeconomic environment rank: 43
Home and outdoor environments rank: 6
Methodology
We ranked 174 of the most populated U.S. cities from best (No. 1) to worst (No. 174) based on their overall scores. A city’s overall score (out of 100 possible points) is the average of all of the city’s individual scores across the weighted metrics listed below:
- OB/GYNs per 100,000 Residents
- Nurse Midwives per 100,000 Residents
- Hospitals per Capita
- Quality of Public Hospitals
- Lactation/Nursing Spaces per 100,000 Residents
- Doulas per 100,000 Residents
- Hospitals with Maternity Services per 100,000 Residents
- Quality of Hospitals with Maternity Services
- Family Practitioners per 100,000 Residents
- Pediatricians per 100,000 Residents
- Child Care Workers per 100,000 Residents
- Infant Mortality Rate
- Life Expectancy
- Low Birthweight Rate
- Share of Uninsured Children
- Access to Baby Supply Stores
- Access to Neonatology Services
- Length of Paid Family Leave Allowed
- Share of Wage Replacement
- Availability of Job Protection in Paid Family Leave Policy
- Amount of Additional Paid Medical Leave Allowed for Pregnancy and Childbirth
- Availability of State Law Allowing Sick Leave for Child Care
- Strength of Breastfeeding Laws
- Cost of Living
- Housing Affordability
- Delivery Cost
- Copay as a Share of Household Income
- Hourly Cost of Babysitter
- Annual Cost of Child Care
- New Moms per 1,000 Moms in Past Year
- Prevalence of Mom/Parent Support Groups
- Unemployment Rate for Moms with Children Under Age
- Median Annual Household Income
- Poverty Rate
- Share of Children Under Age 5 Living in Poverty
- Food Insecurity
- Median Air Quality Index
- Walk Score
- Pedestrian Fatalities per Capita
- Yard Size
- Crime Index
- Rank in LawnStarter’s “Best Cities for Water Quality” Report
- Share of Homes with Severe Housing Problems
Sources: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, AreaVibes, Care.com, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Child Care Aware of America, County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, DoulaMatch.net, Feeding America, LawnStarter, Livability, Mamava, Meetup, National Center for Children in Poverty, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NeighborhoodScout, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. News & World Report, Walk Score, and Yelp.
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