I’ve moved all over the United States with my husband and four children. The moves have always been associated with work, not choice, but the last move we made more than two years ago was finally one we chose and we took many factors into consideration before choosing our current home town. When choosing the best place to raise a family, it takes more than a survey published in some magazine about the best places to raise a family to choose the best place to raise your family. 

The Magazines Don’t Know Everything

When we started researching places to live that would be safe and productive for our four children we made a list of the things we wanted in a city and state. We knew we wanted to be close to the water. The cost of living need to be extremely affordable and the state needed to have multiple college choices so our children could choose from some of the best colleges in the US – after taking all these factors into consideration we chose North Carolina. North Carolina is not listed as one of the best places to raise a family, have a family, raise kids or have kids on any magazine list we could find – but it is our best place to live. 

Sometimes You Have to Give Up a Want for a Need

We did not get everything on our list. We wanted a five bedroom home that cost less than the price we were currently paying.  We were unable to find that, but managed to find a four bedroom for half the cost of our previous payment. We gave up one bedroom, but we gained more savings and expendable cash. 

Life with children is about more than just raising good kids at home. Eventually your children will grow into your adults and you’ll want a safe environment for them. Then, they’ll graduate to college kids and you’ll want great in-state schools. Just because your perfect place is not the perfect place according to Forbes or Best Life, doesn’t mean it’s not the perfect place for you.