The Annie E. Casey Foundation, dedicated to improving the lives of children and families, and one of the nation’s largest private philanthropies with assets in excess of $2.7B, released their 25th annual Kids Count report last week. It assess how the nation’s youth are faring in terms of economics, education, health and family, and ranks all 50 states accordingly. While policy wonks immediately got to work parsing all this invaluable data (health and education outcomes for kids have been improving; economic opportunities have sharply diminished); you may want to use it to go real estate shopping.
First, we took the report’s top 10 states from the overall ranking. Using Neighborhood Scout, a big data analytics provider with a patented education-ranking algorithm, we then identified the top town per state, along with the median home price. Finally, we plugged that price into Trulia and found a downright charming option for you and your family. For comparison’s sake, we did the same thing with the bottom 10 states, using SchoolDigger’s standardized test score-based rankings.
There isn’t any hardcore data science here, just 10 homes where you could sit back and watch the refrigerator door fill up with top-notch school projects and report cards. And also 10 homes where you could spend all night online looking for somewhere else to live. Sorry Okolona, Mississippi.
1. Massachusetts
Sherborn, MA
Median home value: $726,114
Here’s what you can get for that price.
2. Vermont
Norwich, VT
Median home value: $389,228
Here’s what you can get for that price.
3. Iowa
Johnston, IA
Median home value: $250,960
Here’s what you can get for that price.
4. New Hampshire
Hanover, NH
Median home value: $416,013
Here’s what you can get for that price.
5. Minnesota
Deephaven, MN
Median home value: $563,998
Here’s what you can get for that price.
6. North Dakota
Kindred, ND
Median home value: $180,928
Here is what you can get for that price.
7. Connecticut
New Canaan, CT
Median home value: $2,249,333
Here’s what you can get for that price.
8. New Jersey
Mountain Lakes, NJ
Median home value: $810,684
Here’s what you can get for that price.
9. Virginia
Great Falls, VA
Median home value: $1,451,238
Here’s what you can get for that price.
10. Nebraska
Fort Calhoun, NE
Median home value: $212,037
Here’s what you can get for that price.
The Bottom 10
41. Arkansas
Monette, AR
Median home value: $62,247
Here’s what you can get for that price.
42. Georgia
Eton, GA
Median home value: $86,815
Here’s what you can get for that price.
43. Texas
Damon, TX
Median home value: $117,189
Here’s what you can get for that price.
44. Alabama
Louisville, AL
Median home value: $56,874
Here’s what you can get for that price.
45. South Carolina
Allendale, SC
Median home value: $57,404
Here’s what you can get for that price.
46. Arizona
Arizona City, AZ
Median home value: $115,540
Here’s what you can get for that price.
47. Louisiana
Bernice, LA
Median home value: $75,544
Here’s what you can get for that price.
48. Nevada
Laughlin, NV
Median home value: $177,251
Here’s what you can get for that price.
49. New Mexico
Yatahey, NM
Median home value: $56,109
Here’s what you can get for that price.
50. Mississippi
Okolona, MS
Median home value: $55,668
Here’s what you can get for that price.
