It’s tough raising kids as a single dad. That’s why it’s important to bring up your family in a city that supports you — whether through reliable public services, strong family-leave policies, or even clean air and a short commute.
LawnStarter ranked 2022’s Best Cities for Single Dads to mark Father’s Day on June 19.
We compared 200 of the biggest U.S. cities based on 36 factors indicating single dad-friendliness, such as child care access and costs, social programs, and dad support groups.
See the 10 Best and 10 Worst Cities for Single Dads below, followed by some highlights and lowlights from our report.
Highlights and Lowlights:
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Suburbs — the Smart, Affordable Choice: Life tends to move at a slower pace in sprawling, less populated cities, such as Naperville, Illinois (No. 1), Frisco, Texas (No. 6), and Irvine, California (No. 10).
For one, these suburbs are among the most affordable. Academics, however, is where these cities earn the highest marks. Half of our top 10 cities also tied for first place in Public Schools Quality, and six of them also have the highest shares of college-educated men. -
Regional Child Care: The South and Midwest dominated the Child Care category, quite simply because child care services are cheaper here.
Our entire top 50 cities for Child Care are located in these two regions except for Salt Lake City (No. 39), Scottsdale, Arizona (No. 44), and Buffalo, New York (No. 48). California cities fill out most of the 10 worst spots. -
(A)lone Star State: If you want to spend regular quality time with the little ones, you might want to avoid Texas.
Lone Star State cities make up seven of our bottom 10 cities in the Work-Life Balance category. Men in this state work some of the longest hours in the country, and there is no state program for paid family leave.
Our full ranking and analysis are available here: https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/best-cities-single-dads/
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