Salt Lake City makes Parenting magazine list for 'Best in Economy'

SALT LAKE CITY — A 20-minute average commute, "tons of desirable jobs" and "decent" property values boosted Utah's capital city to No. 4 in Parenting magazine's list of the top 10 "Best in Economy" cities, released Friday.

Economy is just one of the magazine's categories in its "best cities for families" honors, which put together best and worst lists in terms of education, safety, recreation and overall health. The magazine based its findings on a nationwide survey of moms through its own MomConnection research panel. The moms were asked what factors they consider in selecting where to live.

The answer? School quality, housing quality and affordability, low crime rate, job prospects, growth, low number of registered sex offenders, recreational opportunities, availability of doctors for kids and adults, travel time, quality and quantity of child care facilities and more.

The overall best cities were Arlington, Va.; Austin, Texas; Madison, Wis.; Ann Arbor, Mich., Lexington, Ky.; Portland, Ore.; Spokane, Wash.; Scottsdale, Ariz,; and Omaha, Neb. Salt Lake City came in No. 58 overall among the best cities for families.

For its calculations, the magazine listed the top 100 cities by population, based on U.S. Census Bureau figures and 52 other categories of information. Then it averaged the findings, with more weight going to the categories of education, economy and safety, to find the best overall scores. It also adjusted for cities close to each other with similar data.

Top education ranking went to Spokane, while safety honors went to Scottsdale. Little Rock, Ark., was No. 1 in local economy.

The magazine provided a small profile of each city, including some humorous or interesting facts. Of Salt Lake City, it notes: "The people … consume more Jell-O per capita than any other city in the United States. It's easy to get pretty much anywhere from Salt Lake City, with the airport just 10 minutes from downtown and ample public transportation."

The publication also ranks Salt Lake City in each of its categories and provides a breakdown. Salt Lake was No. 59 for education, 27th for health, 75th for safety and 55th for education.

The magazine didn't list the five overall worst cities but offered its choices in each of the subcategories. Florida dominated the worst economy list, including Orlando, Tampa and Miami.

You can find the rankings online at www.parenting.com

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