Television executives seized the idea long ago: American families value where they plant their roots. The Cosbys had Brooklyn. The Cunninghams, Milwaukee. The Simpsons, Springfield. But fathers face reality when they're not in prime time. They want to raise their children somewhere safe, where they can attend good schools with favorable student-teacher ratios, above-average test scores and respectable budgets. Plenty of museums, parks and pediatricians also contribute to a good quality of life, whereas multihour commutes, expensive houses and divorcing friends and neighbors do not. Best Life editors used these categories and data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Center for Education Statistics, the FBI, the American Association of Museums, the National Center for Health Statistics and the American Bar Association to evaluate 257 cities. Here are the best — and worst — places to raise a family.

1 Honolulu, Hawaii — Schools spend almost $9,000 per pupil, unemployment ranks less than half the national average, and you can play on the island of O'ahu's 125 beaches.



2 Virginia Beach, Virginia



3 Billings, Montana



4 Columbus, Georgia



5 San Diego, California



6 Des Moines, Iowa



7 Minneapolis, Minnesota



8 Madison, Wisconsin — Madison has a high number of pediatricians per capita.



9 Colorado Springs, Colorado



10 Santa Rosa, California



11 Wichita, Kansas



12 Los Angeles, California



13 Corona, California



14 Austin, Texas



15 Stamford, Connecticut



16 Omaha, Nebraska



17 Naperville, Illinois



18 Fort Wayne, Indiana



19 Springfield, Illinois



20 Boise, Idaho



21 Manchester, New Hampshire



22 South Bay Area, California



23 New York, New York



24 Fontana, California



25 Louisville, Kentucky



26 Plano, Texas



27 Oceanside, California



28 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma



29 Sacramento, California



30 Ann Arbor, Michigan



31 Reno, Nevada



32 Las Vegas, Nevada



33 Lincoln, Nebraska



34 San Bernardino, California



35 Grand Rapids, Michigan



36 Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina — Median value of a home: $202,733



37 Kansas City, Kansas



38 Fremont, California



39 Buffalo, New York



40 Berkeley, California



41 Cambridge, Massachusetts



42 Kansas City, Missouri



43 Waterbury, Connecticut



44 Syracuse, New York



45 Phoenix, Arizona



46 Albuquerque, New Mexico



47 Akron, Ohio



48 Boston, Massachusetts



49 Escondido, California



50 Fairfield, California





51 Antioch, California



52 Elgin, Illinois



53 Rochester, New York



54 Seattle, Washington — Residents spend $266 per person annually to maintain the city's parks.



55 Tucson, Arizona



56 Santa Clarita, California



57 Denver, Colorado



58 Indianapolis, Indiana



59 Glendale, Arizona



60 Chicago, Illinois



61 Atlanta, Georgia



62 San Antonio, Texas



63 Mobile, Alabama



64 Concord, California



65 Denton, Texas



66 Coral Springs, Florida



67 San Francisco, California



68 Cedar Rapids, Iowa



69 El Paso, Texas — Classrooms average fewer than 16 students for every teacher.



70 San Buenaventura, California



71 Worcester, Massachusetts



72 Baltimore, Maryland



73 Richmond, California



74 Lowell, Massachusetts



75 Portland, Oregon



76 Jacksonville, Florida



77 Fort Collins, Colorado



78 Orlando, Florida



79 Modesto, California



80 Montgomery, Alabama



81 Tampa, Florida



82 Salinas, California



83 Newport News, Virginia



84 Oakland, California



85 Augusta, Georgia



86 Fort Worth, Texas



87 Washington, D.C.



88 Tulsa, Oklahoma — Residents spend just 17 minutes commuting to work.



89 Bellevue, Washington



90 Cincinnati, Ohio



91 McKinney, Texas



92 St. Louis, Missouri



93 Hayward, California



94 Midland, Texas



95 Sterling Heights, Michigan



96 Greensboro, North Carolina



97 Arlington, Texas



98 Alexandria, Virginia



99 Winston-Salem, North Carolina



100 Lexington, Kentucky







The 10 Worst Places to Raise a Family (from best to worst)







10 Springfield, Missouri



9 Dayton, Ohio



8 Corpus Christi, Texas



7 Flint, Michigan — Country's highest violent-crime rate



6 Columbia, South Carolina



5 Waco, Texas



4 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania



3 Fayetteville, North Carolina



2 Beaumont, Texas — Long-standing air-quality challenges



1 Clarksville, Tennessee — Low educational spending: $6,729 per student