The best cities to raise a family

The top five cities to raise a family

1. Brisbane, Australia

Brisbane is ranked the best city for raising kids, scoring 6.457/10. Brisbane had the highest number of green spaces per capita, with 84.89 parks and playgrounds per 100,000 people. Brisbane’s many parks and playgrounds, including the beautiful South Bank precinct, Roma Street Parklands and Botanic Gardens (of which the city has two), are a highlight and offer families with children wonderful outdoor play time. Brisbane also had the second-highest safety score, and Australian cities ranked sixth-highest in happiness score among the countries represented in the index.

The Queensland capital city is not completely perfect, however. Several other cities had more things to do with kids, and Australia does not spend as much on family benefits or education in comparison to other nations (as a percentage of GDP). If those stats were higher, Brisbane’s score would improve greatly.

2. London, United Kingdom

Scoring 5.992/10 and coming in second place is the historic English city of London. London has the second-highest number of things to do with kids at 758, only just losing to Rome at 771 activities and things to do. The city is full of magnificent historical sights and a rich heritage, with fascinating museums to explore. The United Kingdom also offers a combined 54 weeks of statutory parental leave combined (52 for the mother, and two for the father) – the most amount of time in the world, equal to Australia.

London also has the sixth-highest number of green spaces per capita at 30.49, though this is less than half of that in Auckland, Berlin or Brisbane.

Living in this great city comes at a price. London has the sixth-highest cost of living after Zurich, New York, San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Copenhagen at US$5,037.80 a month on average for a family of four. London also has a lower safety score (the 17^th highest of the 50 cities analysed) than any other city in the top 10.

3. Auckland, New Zealand

Ranking third was Auckland with a score of 5.460/10. The Kiwi city did well in many of the areas Brisbane did, such as a good safety score of 79 and plenty of green spaces per capita at 67.85. Auckland also has more than twice the number of things to do with kids than Brisbane does, at 231.

The city has a slightly more expensive cost of living than Brisbane (US$3,663.50 vs US$3,390.70), and New Zealand has a slightly lower national child vaccination rate than Australia (88.33% vs 93.33%). One thing that really holds New Zealand back is the lower statutory parental leave – 28 weeks total (26 weeks for mothers, and two weeks for fathers). This is just over half of Australia and the United Kingdom’s 54 weeks.

4. Helsinki, Finland

Finland’s capital Helsinki was fourth, with a score of 5.305/10. Finland is famous for having the highest happiness score in the world (7.736), but Helsinki also has the highest safety score of 95. Finland also has the second-highest education spending as a percentage of GDP at 6.4%.

5. Sydney, Australia

Rounding out the top five was another Australian city, Sydney. Australia’s largest city scored 5.239/10 and did well in many of the areas that Brisbane did. A standout was that Sydney has 246 things to do with kids, more than twice of that in Brisbane. However, the downside to living in Sydney is that it is also the most expensive city in Australia, with the average cost of living sitting at US$4,162.10 per month for a family of four (AUD$6,176.23).

Australian cities overall performed very well, with Perth and Melbourne also making the top 10, scoring sixth and seventh overall with a score of 5.120 and 5.056/10, respectively. The table below showcases the full index.

The best cities to raise a family index 2026

Why are Australian cities are some of the best places to raise children?

Australian cities performed very well in Compare the Market AU’s ranking, with four making the top 10, and Brisbane being the best city overall. In comparison to some other cities on the list, Australian cities are typically ranked as very safe, and the nation has high world happiness scores, child vaccination rates, and the highest statutory parental leave in the world from any country listed on the index. Australian cities are also typically much more affordable than other good cities to raise a family, which helped give them an edge in the calculations.

US cities dominate the bottom 10 scores

While Australian cities were crowding the top 10, four of the bottom-ranked 10 cities were American. Phoenix was ranked 48^th (out of 50) with a score of 2.982/10, while Los Angeles was 44^th with a score of 3.225/10, Washington D.C. was 42^nd with a score of 3.274/10, and Houston was 40^th, scoring 3.389/10.

The common detractors were low safety scores, some of the lowest in the entire index, the lowest combined national statutory parental leave of the entire index at just 12 weeks, and the USA’s family benefits spending was just 0.6% of GDP, the third lowest of every country covered in the index.

America’s best-ranked city to raise a family was New York, ranking 28^th out of 50. Its safety score of 67 was the highest of any American city, and the ‘Big Apple’ was big on child-friendly activities, with 445 listings of things to do with kids. However, it was the second most expensive city in the entire list for cost of living, with a family of four facing an average cost of US$6,180.60 greenbacks a month.

Zurich was the most expensive city in the index, with an eye-watering average cost of living at US$6,900.20 a month.