Balancing Bedtimes & Boardrooms: The Best U.S. Cities for Working Parents in 2024

Key Takeaways

• Washington, D.C. tops the ranking with high scores in both the work and health categories, with a quarter of its workforce being remote.
  • Plano leads in the affordable childcare category with only 10% of the median household income spent on childcare.
• Miami ranks first in terms of accessible educational facilities, with the highest availability of public schools.
• The West stands out with eight locations in the top 20, while the South closely follows with seven.

Considering the many factors involved in starting or raising a family, parents are constantly trying to balance professional success with their family’s wellbeing. Yet, even with all of the advantages of the modern world — like access to childcare and enticing job opportunities — some U.S. cities are making it easier than others for working parents. With that in mind, our latest study unveils the top 20 cities with the ideal mix of career opportunities, great childcare and high quality of life.

To guarantee an unbiased comparison, we first identified the metrics that contribute to making a location the perfect environment for working families, like remote-eligible jobs, the number of public schools and the number of pediatricians. The chosen elements were then categorized into three main themes — work, education and health care/environment.

Working Parents Can Juggle Playdates & Deadlines in Ideal Spots All Across the Nation

The top-ranking cities in the nation were led by Washington, D.C., Seattle, WA, and Arlington, VA, all three of which scored high across multiple relevant categories, like the share of remote workers, the quality of the public schools and the high availability of pediatricians, among others.

However, to support working parents in their search for an ideal location to balance their work and family lives, we considered it important to have a regional breakdown of the top cities. As such, we highlighted the leading 15 cities for working parents as part of their respective region, to localize the search and better narrow it down.

South Shines with Washington, D.C. & Arlington, VA, in Leading Positions

The Southern region stood out with Washington, D.C. as the ultimate leader. Specifically, the city ranked second in the overall work category due to the high share of office jobs (82% of the total jobs), making it easier for parents to find remote employment, as well as its high number of coworking spaces. The capital also had the fourth-highest percentage of remote workers at 25% of its workforce. Notably, D.C. also secured third place in the health and environment category by standing out with the third-largest number of pediatricians per 100,000 children, totaling 354. Likewise, D.C. also excelled in education with more than four public schools per square mile — second only to Miami. Overall,  D.C. presents itself as a promising place for parents who want to balance family time with work responsibilities.

Nearby, Arlington, VA, claimed third place overall due to a strong work environment that helped it rank second in this particular category. Additionally, it stood out by coming in second in the remote workers metric (27% of the total workforce), as well as in the share of office jobs (85%). Moreover, Arlington’s schools were recognized in 10^th place on a state level based on their overall quality. As such, Arlington supports a healthy environment for educational development for children — and their parents’ professional lives.

Coming in third place in the South and 10^th nationally, Atlanta, GA, emerged for its high rankings in the education and work categories. More precisely, only 13% of the Atlanta household median was allocated to childcare, which is well below the 19% national median. Also, almost one-quarter (23%) of the city’s total workforce is comprised of remote workers to earn sixth place in the metric. This — combined with its 77% share of office jobs — indicates a high chance of finding remote employment.

Next, Miami, FL, ranked #11 on the national level but came in first in the overall education category. Here, parents can find almost 413 public schools for every 100,000 children, which was the highest number among all the cities analyzed.  And, although parents spend 21% of the household median income on childcare, that’s still just slightly above the national median of 19%. Miami also recorded more than two coworking spaces per square mile — the only city among the ones analyzed with two flexible workplaces per unit of measure — making it easy for workers to find a professional workspace close to home.

Then, ranking #13 nationally, Plano, TX, stood out in two relevant metrics: the city registered the best rating for affordability of childcare with only 10% of the household median income allocated to it, in addition to the second-best air-quality index nationwide. These benefits were backed by Plano’s eighth position in the work category. More precisely, the city counted more than 22% of remote workers and almost 80% office jobs.

8 Western Cities Make Top 20, Including Seattle in 2nd Place Nationally

The West registered the largest number of cities (eight) in the top 20, surpassing the South by one location. In this case, Seattle, WA, was the leading city in the region and also ranked second nationally due to its high share of remote workers at 27% of the total workforce. Plus, 80% of the jobs in Seattle are office-related to rank fifth in this metric. What’s more, the household median income going to childcare in Seattle was less than one-fifth of the total at 18%. Thus, across all categories, the city highlights its commitment to creating a balanced environment for working parents.

Further inland, Scottsdale, AZ, landed in fourth place nationally thanks to great overall rankings in multiple categories. Namely, the city stood out with 128 green acres for every 1,000 residents, leading in this metric. At the same time, it had the third-best percentage of the household median income going to childcare at 12%. Moreover, 82% of Scottsdale workers were engaged in office jobs — including nearly 27% in a remote format — to rank fourth and third, respectively.

Back on the coast, San Francisco, CA, was rated third in the region and fifth nationally. Its position was due to overall great performances in the work category, coming in fourth. Also, San Francisco stood out with 303 pediatricians for every 100,000 children, which was the fourth-highest number nationally. Additionally, the city had the fifth-largest percentage of remote workers at a little more than 23% of the total workforce, as well as the second-most coworking spaces available for remote and hybrid workers, including working parents.

Staying in California, Fremont checked the highest share of remote workers nationwide at just above 28% of its total workforce. Here, the vast majority (79%) of jobs are office-based, which helped the city score sixth place in the work category.  It’s worth noting here that parents in this area allocated only 13% of their median household income to childcare to rank fifth in the category — on par with Atlanta and Austin, Texas.

To the east, Denver, CO, obtained the #12 place nationally mainly due to its great results in educational metrics: the city’s schools ranked eighth on a state level, and 20% of parents’ income here went to childcare, which was just above the 19% national median.

Back in California, Irvine secured the #14 spot thanks to its great performance in the work category. Overall, the city ranked fifth in this metric, but it stood out with the highest percentage of office jobs at 86%. Of that, a little more than 23% of its workforce was comprised of teleworkers, which secured the seventh spot in the metric for Irvine. The city also featured an income-to-childcare ratio of only 15%, which was one of the lowest in the nation.

Boston, Jersey City & Pittsburgh Stand Out in Education to Represent Northeast in Top 10

Leading the Northeast region, Boston, MA, was sixth on the national level due to great rankings in the health and environment category. In particular, the city had the highest number of pediatricians per 100,000 children, at 469. To complete the image of a child-friendly location, Boston came in 9^th in the overall education category, while its schools ranked fifth in the state. These results are complemented by overall great scores in the work category, which ensures a well-rounded and prosperous location for working parents.

Next, Jersey City, NJ, ranked seventh on a national level, mainly due to its high position in the education metric. Also, the income-to-childcare ratio here was 11% (second only to Plano, Texas), while, at the state level, the schools were recognized as leaders for their quality. Furthermore, they can access 71% of office jobs in the city, where the workforce is made up of 19% teleworkers, maintaining a positive outlook on commute times and work/life balance.

Completing the podium in the Northeast, Pittsburgh, PA, secured eighth place nationally with impressive results in education-related metrics. In fact, there are 327 public schools per 100,000 children, and parents can find almost three public schools per square mile. What’s more, Pittsburgh also had overall great results in the work metric as 71% of all jobs were office jobs, as well as a healthy remote culture with almost 18% of employees working in this format.

Midwest Enters Top 15, Represented by Minneapolis

Minneapolis, MN, secured the #15 place in our ranking — the only city representing the Midwest for the most balanced family-friendly location. With overall positive results across the board, it stood out with the sixth-highest number of public schools available with more than three per square mile. Moreover, the schools here are recognized for their quality, which helped the city earn 11^th place in the overall education category.

Methodology

1. Education Score: 40% of the total index

• Childcare affordability: Average annual median center-based childcare cost per child (including costs for infants, toddlers and preschool-age children); used as a percentage of of the household median income; inflation-adjusted to 2024 [U.S. Department of Labor (2018 – county level)] – 25%
• Ranking of public schools nationally by state: Public School Rankings [World Population Review (2023 – state level)] – 25%
• Public school availability: Number of public schools per 100,000 children [GreatSchools.org (2023 – city level)] – 25%
• Public school density: Number of public schools per square mile [GreatSchools.org (2023 – city level)] – 25%

2. Work Score: 40% of the total index

• Share of remote workers: Share of the working population that doesn’t commute to work [U.S. Census Bureau: 5-year estimates (2021 – city level)] – 40%
• Share of remote-eligible jobs: Share of residents working in jobs with high potential for being remote [U.S. Census Bureau – 5-year estimates (2021 – city level)] – 40%
• Coworking space density: Number of coworking spaces per square mile [Source: proprietary CoworkingCafe database (2023 – city level)] – 20%

3. Health & Environment Score: 20% of the total index

• Pediatrician availability: Number of pediatricians per 100,000 children [The American Board of Pediatrics (2023 – county level)] – 40%
• Availability of green spaces: Acres per 1,000 residents [The Trust for Public Land’s public database (2023 – city level)] – 30%
• Air quality: Air Quality Index [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2022 – city level)] –30%

Additional notes:

• CoworkingCafe focused on U.S. cities with at least 200,000 residents that had data for all metrics analyzed.
• Data points were analyzed comparatively with the extreme values within the data pool determining the highest and lowest possible scores for each metric.
• The air quality index reflected that of the wider metro area when city-level data was not available.

Fair Use & Redistribution

We encourage you to reuse, host, or repost the images in this article and freely grant permission to do so. We kindly ask that you attribute the authors by linking to CoworkingCafe.com or this page to allow your readers to learn more about this project, the research behind it and its methodology.