South Carolina Ranked Among The Worst State in America to Raise a Family in 2026

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Charlotte Stories
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With the cost of raising a child to age 18 exceeding $320,000, the personal-finance company WalletHub today released its report on the Best & Worst States to Raise a Family in 2026, to highlight the states that are affordable, safe, well-educated and enjoyable for families to live in.

The site compared the 50 states across 50 key indicators of family-friendliness, including median annual family income, housing affordability, health care quality, crime rate, and school quality.

South Carolina came in at 42nd overall with a 41.73 total score and mixed category results. The state ranked 34th in Family Fun and 39th in Health & Safety. It also ranked 42nd in Education & Child Care and 45th in Affordability.

Best States for Families

Overall Rank  State Total Score  Family Fun Rank  Health & Safety Rank  Education & Child Care Rank  Affordability Rank  Socio-economics Rank 
1 Massachusetts 67.60 10 3 1 3 21
2 Minnesota 63.10 15 12 14 4 10
3 North Dakota 61.60 32 7 4 22 2
4 Wisconsin 60.58 20 17 10 12 7
5 Nebraska 60.41 22 11 6 25 8
6 New York 59.71 5 19 8 9 47
7 Connecticut 59.19 40 10 5 1 17
8 New Hampshire 58.12 43 2 7 26 5
9 Illinois 58.09 3 32 17 16 45
10 Maine 58.07 44 6 3 27 6
11 South Dakota 58.02 36 9 12 29 1
12 Pennsylvania 57.91 8 24 23 17 20
13 Washington 57.66 6 33 25 5 44
14 New Jersey 57.44 29 15 2 6 30
15 Colorado 57.37 4 40 26 8 35
16 Rhode Island 57.31 30 8 9 2 29
17 Vermont 56.61 48 1 11 23 4
18 Utah 55.32 23 13 13 38 11
19 Iowa 55.02 33 14 18 11 13
20 Maryland 53.94 25 30 16 7 22
21 Ohio 53.77 13 20 31 14 42
22 Oregon 53.61 11 25 30 13 41
23 Hawaii 53.42 18 5 38 41 18
24 Wyoming 53.38 42 4 15 34 14
25 Montana 52.95 31 21 20 39 3
26 Virginia 52.94 26 23 22 20 15
27 Missouri 52.92 17 27 29 21 16
28 Kansas 51.13 35 31 19 24 12
29 California 50.63 1 42 33 19 48
30 Idaho 50.06 41 16 28 32 9
31 Indiana 49.50 27 34 21 18 34
32 Delaware 49.36 45 22 24 10 27
33 Tennessee 48.78 16 38 32 36 19
34 Texas 47.18 2 50 41 46 36
35 Michigan 46.80 38 28 37 15 33
36 North Carolina 46.70 19 36 40 33 26
37 Alaska 45.73 24 26 39 43 32
38 Kentucky 44.67 37 29 27 31 43
39 Arizona 44.24 9 41 48 48 28
40 Florida 44.19 12 37 44 50 39
41 Georgia 42.86 21 44 35 47 37
42 South Carolina 41.73 34 39 42 45 23
43 Oklahoma 41.51 28 46 36 30 40
44 Arkansas 38.82 47 45 34 42 24
45 Louisiana 38.71 14 49 47 35 49
46 Alabama 38.50 46 35 46 28 31
47 Nevada 36.78 7 48 49 49 50
48 Mississippi 35.99 49 43 43 37 25
49 West Virginia 35.84 50 18 45 44 38
50 New Mexico 32.69 39 47 50 40 46