A new ranking indicates that Orem is the best city in the U.S. for working parents and one of three Utah County cities in the top 10.
SmartAsset looked at data from 579 cities across topics including employment, affordable housing, safety and graduation rates. Provo is ranked No. 5 and Lehi is No. 6.
“These Utah cities offer low violent crime and unemployment rates, as well as strong high school graduation rates,” the study says.
Among the stats for Orem is average annual childcare costs of $8,796; median annual housing costs of $13,560; a high school graduation rate of 95.16 percent (data from the 2022 county health rankings); and 107 violent crimes per 100,000 residents.
Other factors used to rank the cities are median household income, the percentage of the workforce working 50 or more weeks per year, the percentage of households with Internet access, average commute time and access to parental leave.
“Orem has the 25th-highest high school graduation rate (95.16 percent) and ties for the 22nd-lowest unemployment rate (1.8 percent in April 2022),” the study says. “For parents concerned about crime, Orem has a low violent crime rate. At roughly 107 violent crimes for every 100,000 residents, Orem ranks 45th-best for this metric out of the 579 cities in our study.”
Provo ranks in the top 30 cities for three metrics, including a tie with Orem for the 22nd-lowest April 2022 unemployment rate, at 1.8 percent, and having the 30th-lowest percentage of the workforce that works 50 or more weeks per year, at 48.6 percent.
The report notes that the median household income in Lehi ranks in the top one-sixth of cities, exceeding $101,000. The roughly 109 violent crimes occurring per 100,000 residents places it 47th-lowest and the high school graduation rate of 95.16 percent ties for 25th-highest.
Other ranked Utah cities are St. George at No. 12, Layton at No. 23, South Jordan at No. 51, Sandy at No. 69 and West Jordan at No. 94.
“After more than two years of navigating their families through a pandemic, working parents are now grappling with the realities of inflation: bigger grocery bills, steeper housing costs, and more expensive childcare,” the report states. “However, some cities offer a more favorable environment for working parents than others.”
The report is available at https://smartasset.com/data-studies/top-10-cities-for-working-parents-2022.
The ranking of so many Utah cities in 2022 represents a rebound of sorts. The 2021 rankings contained no Utah cities in the top 50 (Bowling Green, Kentucky, was top-ranked). The 2020 list included No. 9 Provo, No. 17 Orem, and No. 36 St. George in the top 50.