Omaha Has Been Named Best Place to Raise a Family

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Omaha has been named the best city to raise kids in a new Kiplinger.com ranking.

The personal finance website's list is based on a combination of factors. Kiplinger looked for cities with great schools, lots of libraries and parks and a low cost of living relative to household income. Crime rates were also included.

The website says the Millard neighborhood of southwest Omaha is an especially good place for families because of the strong schools and safe streets.

Omaha was also praised for the quality of its zoo, children's museum and other family friendly amenities.

Omaha beat out Richland, Wash.; Suwanee, Ga.; Thousand Oaks, Calif.; East Grand Rapids, Mich.; Appleton, Wis.; Sunnyvale, Calif.; Middletown, N.Y.; Corona, Calif.; and Stamford, Conn.

Here's the what the website said: 

City population: 408,958 

Average family income: $78,466 

Percentage of families with children: 28.3% 

Metro-area spending per student: $6,077 

Public playgrounds: 157 

The city that bore Warren Buffett is a great place to raise children -- though there’s no guarantee they’ll grow up to be billionaire investors. Southwestern Omaha, in particular, is an idyll of good schools, tended sports fields and tidy cul-de-sacs. The Millard School District, home to Nebraska's only K-12 International Baccalaureate program, features sky-high standardized test scores, a top-ranked music program and one of the country's best school library systems (according to the American Association of School Librarians, which awarded Millard top honors in 2003). In the western suburbs especially, crime rates are low enough for kids to walk to school worry-free. 

And there's plenty to do in the city itself: A zoo, a children's museum and a 64-year-old children's theater anchor Omaha's kid-friendly offerings. Parents, meanwhile, enjoy living costs 10.5% below the national average, a modest 4.7% unemployment rate and well-paid jobs at major companies, including Union Pacific and the aforementioned Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

Read more: http://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/10-great-cities-to-raise-kids/11.html#top#ixzz1wOMrtQNo