Looks like one Texas town has made the list for one of the worst cities in the United States to raise a kid. Really?

When looking at a city to move to, or where you should raise your family, many people will look at certain cities to see how good the region is for a raising a child in. To help some families figure out what cities they DON'T want to be looking at, 24/7 Wall Street used certain metrics to see which cities were the worst to raise children in. Some of the metrics they looked at were: quality of schools and recreational opportunities, crime, and rates of preschool enrollment  and amount of high school graduates.

From these metrics, three cities in the area made the list and here are their results:

  • 5th Worst: Odessa, Texas: Odessa was named the worst city in Texas to raise children in. Violent crimes in the city were the second most in any metro area, and 16% of kids lack health insurance which is the third highest.
    • Pre-school enrollment: 42.7%
    • Graduation rate: 77.8%
    • Pop. with access to areas for activity: 71.4%
    • Violent crime rate: 1,070 per 100,000
  • 2nd Worst: Farmington, New Mexico: Only about 36.4% of residents of Farmington have access to places for physical activity which is the lowest in the entire nation. The city also had one of the lowest graduation rates for students within four years of any city.
    • Pre-school enrollment: 48.7%
    • Graduation rate: 71.8%
    • Pop. with access to areas for activity: 36.4%
    • Violent crime rate: 443 per 100,000
  • 7th Worst: Albuquerque, New Mexico: Albuquerque has a problem with education and crime in the city. Only 62% of students will graduate in time and crime in the city is double the comparable U.S. violent crime rate.
    • Pre-school enrollment: 40.9%
    • Graduation rate: 62.0%
    • Pop. with access to areas for activity: 85.0%
    • Violent crime rate: 793 per 100,000

While some of this criteria makes sense, it doesn't count for everything in a city. The people in a town will have a huge influence on a child growing up, not to mention the family and parents of a child. While these cities may be deemed some of the worst, I can say that I believe you could look at them and find some of the best people and kids around.

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