How family-friendly is Pembroke Pines? Here’s where new study ranks it nationally
Pembroke Pines may be best known for lush parks, endless gated communities and schools that rank high academically, but at its core, the southwest Broward city’s claim to fame is this: family-friendliness.
A new study shows that while that may hold true, Pines might not be a top contender nationwide.
The southwest Broward city landed in the top 40th percentile among U.S. cities for the best and worst places to raise a family, according to a report by WalletHub.
The report, released May 26 by the Miami-based personal finance company, compared 182 cities nationwide in five categories that WalletHub says can make or break how your kids turn out:
- family fun
- health and safety
- education and child care
- affordability
- socioeconomics
Where did Pembroke Pines land?
The city ranked 60th across the U.S. and was dubbed the third-best among the 11 Florida cities that made the report.
To size up the city, the categories were broken down into 45 family-friendliness metrics with varying weights, graded on a 100-point scale and averaged to calculate the score.
Pines fared best in health and safety, coming in at No. 10 in the 20-point category, which factored in the area’s air and water quality, access to healthy foods, number of pediatricians and public hospitals, homelessness data, infant mortality rate and more.
Education and child care, in which Pines was 19th best, looked at the city’s school system quality, high school graduation rate, child-care costs, parental leave policies and summer learning opportunities.
The southwest Broward city’s third-best category — socioeconomics, at No. 71 — assessed Pines’ separation and divorce rates, poverty data, wealth gap, number of families living on government assistance and unemployment rate.
Affordability is where the municipality’s numbers took a steep drop, ranking No. 144 when weighing three factors: cost of living, housing affordability and wallet wellness.
Not a shocker considering Pines ranked No. 174 in WalletHub’s April roundup of cities with the most affordable rent and No. 6 on the Journal of Consumer Research’s November list of most “house-poor” cities in America.
Worst of all was family fun, where Pines was deemed 146th best, which looked into the number of attractions and families with young children in the city as well as the area’s average commute time, walkability and how frequently the city has “ideal weather.”
Pembroke Pines’ total score was 55.38.
If you’re looking for better options for your family but are committed to the Sunshine State, you’ll only find two: Orlando, which ranked No. 49, and Tampa, just ahead of Pines at No. 59.
Other Florida cities — St. Petersburg (63), Jacksonville (117), Tallahassee (123), Cape Coral (133), Port St. Lucie (147), Miami (163) and Fort Lauderdale (166) — didn’t measure up to the state’s top three contenders.
As for Hialeah, the lowest-ranking Florida city at No. 173 and last in WalletHub’s “affordability” category, you’ll likely want to take that city out of the running.
If you’re searching for the best of the best, a transcontinental move may be in your future. Fremont, California, located in the San Francisco Bay Area, topped the list and took first place in the study’s socioeconomics category.
And in case you were wondering: Detroit ranked last at No. 182.
