Starting a family is a huge undertaking, and would-be parents have tons of things to stress out over—everything from schools to extracurriculars for their kids, to finding the best possible home for their family to grow into. It’s hardly surprising that some places are far more family-friendly than others. But which state checks the most boxes?

Personal finance website WalletHub has crowned Massachusetts the best state to raise a family, according to a recent report. The Bay State was followed by Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, and Vermont.

These aren’t states that normally top real estate “best of” lists—they’re not necessarily the cheapest, and they might not have the sunniest weather. But as WalletHub puts it, what’s more important is a place that’s “affordable to live in during this time of high inflation but also offers quality schools, health care, and entertainment.”

The analysts at WalletHub grouped various factors into five categories—family fun, health and safety, education and child care, affordability, and socioeconomics—to come up with the rankings. Massachusetts came in second in two of them, affordability as well as education and child care, and ranked fifth in health and safety.

Massachusetts is known for being pricey—a metro area just over the state border in New Hampshire has been the Realtor.com® “hottest metro” for nearly a year. That’s mainly because it appeals to buyers fleeing the high cost of housing in the Boston area.

The state has the third-highest median home list price in the nation, at $669,500 in November, right behind Hawaii and California, according to the most recent data from Realtor.com. But the commonwealth actually scores quite highly when factoring in not just home and rental prices but also residents’ median credit scores, debt loads, the percentage of families who save for their children’s college education, average annual family health insurance costs, and more.

Similarly, the education and child care category takes into account not just the quality of the public schools, but also the graduation rate, child care services, and the quality of local day care providers.

“Places with low housing costs can be good for families. However, affordable real estate may reflect the fact that a community is far from employment and educational opportunities,” Lauren Jones, an associate professor at Ohio State University, said in a statement. “What you save in housing costs you will end up paying in transportation time and costs. Low housing costs may also reflect low property tax rates, which may mean that less social supports are in place.”

Marjorie Youngren, a Realtor® who runs a William Raveis real estate office on the north shore of Boston, raised her own family in Lynnfield, MA. She calls it a “charming quintessential New England town” where locals enjoy being close to beautiful beaches in the summer and leaf-peeping in the fall.

The state might not be the top choice of someone looking for the cheapest cost of living, Youngren acknowledges, but many people are OK with that.

“Massachusetts residents know that good schools are important and they also keep our property values up,” says Youngren. “Most young families are extremely concerned with making sure that they move to a town with a good school, and there are plenty here.”

The worst states for families on the WalletHub list were Mississippi, New Mexico, and West Virginia.

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