Having a baby can be one of the happiest occasions in someone’s life, but it can also be incredibly stressful and the expense is a big part of that. It turns out, where you give birth can make a big difference in the expense and the quality of health care services you get and new research highlights the places that are more ideal to have a baby.
- WalletHub’s list of the Best and Worst States to Have a Baby has just come out.
- They compared the 50 states and Washington, D.C. on 31 factors in the areas of cost and health care accessibility, baby-friendliness and family-friendliness.
- States were ranked on everything from the number of pediatricians per capita to the average annual infant-care cost to hospital charges for conventional deliveries.
- Based on all of that, Massachusetts tops the list as the best state to have a baby in 2024.
- It comes in first for family-friendliness and second for both health care and baby-friendliness, but it’s pretty pricey and lands at 41st for cost.
- New Hampshire, fifth overall, is number one for cost, while Rhode Island, fourth overall, is first for health care, and Washington, D.C., sixth overall, is number one for baby-friendliness.
- At the bottom of the list is Mississippi, making it the worst state to have a baby. It’s dead last for health care, in the bottom five for baby-friendliness and family-friendliness, but 28th for cost.
The Top 10 Best States to Have a Baby
(Click here to see where your state falls on the list)
- Massachusetts
- North Dakota
- Minnesota
- Rhode Island
- New Hampshire
- Washington, D.C.
- Maine
- Vermont
- Utah
- Washington
The 10 Worst States to Have a Baby
- Mississippi
- Alabama
- South Carolina
- New Mexico
- Georgia
- Nevada
- West Virginia
- Louisiana
- Oklahoma
- Arkansas
Source: WalletHub