Report: Pennsylvania third best state to raise a family

(The Center Square) — A new report published by ConsumerAffairs ranks Pennsylvania as the third best state for raising a family.

The report ranked each state in affordability, safety, education, pediatric health care and quality of life. The combined metrics were used to determine the states’ overall rankings.

The score puts Pennsylvania in rarified air, behind only Maine and Vermont, while southwestern states California, Texas and New Mexico bottom out the list.

Notably, Pennsylvania is the only state for which the report calls out political leadership or specific legislation, citing last year’s $1.11 billion increase to the state’s education budget.

“These investments reflect the state’s ongoing efforts to improve its education system — an important factor for parents and guardians seeking a supportive environment for their children,” writes ConsumerAffairs.

The rankings do not mention the unconstitutionally inequitable school funding model that led to the budget increase and new adequacy funding formula. Rather, the state’s 96% high school graduation rate, the second highest in the country, is cited.

For Pennsylvania students, the impact of the changes has yet to be felt. The new formula is meant to help remedy the massive imbalance that comes from education funding through property taxes across the state. It weighs property values and numbers of students living below the poverty line to establish increased funding for historically neglected schools while preserving investments in wealthy high-performing districts.

Test results from the state’s 2024 PSSA and Keystone exams demonstrate the uneven education landscape, with high-income suburban districts outperforming low-income urban and rural schools. The learning loss permeating across demographics since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic is reflective of nationwide trends.

Education advocates on both sides of the aisle are optimistic that recent changes will make educational prospects desirable across the state. Legislative priorities include reducing cost and increasing interest in the state’s higher education system with the long-term goal of ameliorating the ongoing labor shortage and declining population.

Another statistic used to determine the state’s ranking is its pediatric health care. With 147 pediatricians per 100,000 children, Pennsylvania comes in at tenth in the nation. Home to hospitals like the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Penn State, and UPMC, the state does boast world-class health care.

However, like education, health care is another area where factors like location and socioeconomic status play major roles in access. To that end, the state has seen recent initiatives to address maternal and infant mortality rates, which are especially high for women of color and expanding telemedicine services.

Those living in rural areas still struggle to get to appointments. Many women live in maternity deserts where labor and delivery departments are upwards of 40 minutes away. Meanwhile, local hospitals and small private practices are closing their doors to financial pressures and rapid consolidation into a select few medical conglomerates.

Public safety also earned the commonwealth a spot in the nation’s top 10. The report considered violent crime, property crime, driving safety, public safety and climate safety in its determination.

The state continues efforts to recruit officers into the state troopers’ dwindling ranks, while downward trends in violent crimes in major cities like Philadelphia belie a nuanced web of socioeconomic concerns.

The report ranked Pennsylvania 34th for quality of life and 29th for affordability.

Ultimately, it’s safe to say that certain parts of Pennsylvania hold up to closer inspection on the metrics given by ConsumerAffairs. For everywhere else, the state’s legislature must undertake the same kind of reckoning occurring in states farther down the list, addressing long-standing issues laid bare by the economic and political instability of the past several years.