Sioux Falls Is One of the Top Cities for New Moms

As we get ready to celebrate all of the moms out there this Mother's Day weekend, Sioux Falls is emerging as one of the best places in America to start a new family.

LawnStarter has examined 40 'mom-friendliness' factors and announced Best Cities for New Moms, ranking the 180 biggest cities in the country.

Sioux Falls had a very strong showing in a number of key categories, enough to land in the top 30 overall at number-29.

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South Dakota's largest city actually leads the nation with the most childcare workers per 10,000 households with children under age 18 and is third overall behind only Irvine, California, and Eugene, Oregon for having the highest quality public hospitals.

Sioux Falls also had top ten showings in two of the study's seven categories and was only in the bottom half in one area:

• Child Care (number of pediatricians and childcare workers, infant mortality rate)  - 4th overall
• Maternity Care (access to doctors, hospitals, and nurse midwives) - 9th overall
• Affordability (cost of living, babysitting rates, childcare costs) - 29th overall
• Socioeconomics (income, unemployment rates) - 46th overall
• Social Support (access to support groups) - 62nd overall
• Home and Outdoor Environment (air and water quality, crime rate) - 86th overall
• Mom Protections (paid leave, job security, breastfeeding laws) - 144th overall

Overall, Orange, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, was the best city for new moms, thanks to a top ranking in maternity care and top 20 showings in three other categories (child care, mom protections, and socioeconomics).

It was one of two cities from the Golden State on the list. New Jersey also had a pair, while three Oregon cities are among the best for new moms.

BEST CITIES FOR NEW MOMS

1. Orange, California
2. Boston, Massachusetts
3. Portland, Oregon
4. Jersey City, New Jersey
5. San Francisco, California
6. Salem, Oregon
7. Eugene, Oregon
8. Paterson, New Jersey
9. Yonkers, New York
10. Bellevue, Washington

Detroit was the worst of the 180 cities at the other end of the list, which was dominated by two states - Texas and Flordia - with half of the bottom ten cities.

WORST CITIES FOR NEW MOMS

1. Detroit, Michigan
2. Fayetteville, North Carolina
3. Grand Prairie, Texas
4. Pasadena, Texas
5. Mesquite, Texas
6. Tallahassee, Florida
7. North Las Vegas, Nevada
8. Toledo, Ohio
9. Hialeah, Florida
10. Memphis, Tennessee