North Miami Beach ranked best family-friendly Florida city in new study

Plenty of new families have poured into the Sunshine State in recent years, and a new study shows that North Miami Beach is the most family-friendly city in Florida.

SquareFootHomes, a real estate website in Palm Beach County, analyzed the 90 biggest cities within the Sunshine State and used 19 different factors to compile the list of most family-friendly towns. Education, recreation, affordability, health care, job security and other factors were used in the equation to rank the metro areas.

North Miami Beach scored 55.88 on the family-friendly scale, the highest score of any city in the state.

“North Miami Beach is the top contender, leading the pack in education, healthcare, and economic stability. However, it is one of the least affordable cities in Florida,” the study concluded.

Altamonte Springs and Winter Garden, located in Central Florida, came in second and third, respectively. Altamonte Springs scored 55.12 on the friendliness scale, while Winter Garden scored 52.94.

Traditional retirement communities with scores of senior citizens didn’t fare so well in terms of being family friendly in Florida. The older the populace is, the fewer opportunities for younger members of a family.

“Spring Hill, Palm Coast, Port Charlotte, Lehigh Acres, and Poinciana are the least family-friendly cities in Florida,” SquareFootHomes analysts found, as Poinciana finished last at 90th.

The largest metropolitan areas of the state may not have claimed the highest rankings for family-friendliness overall. That’s due in part to the lack of economic stability.

“Cities like Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, and St. Petersburg rank lower in employment and economic stability,” the SquareFootHomes report concluded. All of those cities were near the bottom of the ranking for economic stability, with Jacksonville ranked last.

Meanwhile, Jacksonville rebounds when it comes to cities with the best education in the state. The First Coast hub was ranked second in the state for best education, behind only North Miami Beach.

Fort Pierce in St. Lucie County was ranked last in education.

The big metro areas may have had some foibles in the analysis, but all of the large metros fared well when it comes to “most fun and relaxing spots.” Miami ranks first in the state for that metric, followed by Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville and Sarasota. Poinciana ranked last in the state for fun and relaxation.