In a new analysis of the Best & Worst States to Raise a Family in 2025, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Michigan ranks just above Alaska, and well behind the rest of the Midwest.

“Raising a family has become significantly more expensive in recent years as the cost of living has risen quickly. In fact, it can cost a family well over $300,000 to raise a child to age 18, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture,” said Chip Lupo, an analyst for the personal finance website WalletHub.

“In light of the expensive nature of being a parent and the responsibility it entails, it’s important to live in a city that is affordable while still providing quality health care, education, safety and opportunities for enrichment,” he said.

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WalletHub analyzed all 50 states across 50 key indicators of “family-friendliness,” from median annual family income, to housing affordability, to health care, crime and school quality.

Researchers compiled the data to provide an overall rank, as well as individual ranks for family fun, health and safety, education and childcare, affordability, and socio-economics.

The analysis ranked the Great Lakes State 38^th overall, just ahead of Alaska, and just behind North Carolina. The next closest states in the Midwest were Indiana in 35^th and Missouri in 27^th. Other Midwest states including Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin ranked in the top 10.

Michigan’s best sub-category rank was a 14^th place finish for affordability, and the state ranked 25^th for health and safety. The rest of the sub ranks fell in the bottom half of states nationally, with a rank of 40^th for both family fun and education and child care, and a rank of 38^th for socio-economics.

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The top 10 states to raise a family, according to WalletHub, include Massachusetts in first, followed by Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, Maine, and Connecticut.

The worst state was New Mexico, while the rest of the bottom 10 included Mississippi, West Virginia, Nevada, Oklahoma, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, South Carolina, Arizona, and Georgia.

The reasons behind Michigan’s poor showing are obvious, illustrated by a variety of regular reports detailing the states decline over the last six years.

A recent report from the Education Policy Innovation Collaborative shows reading proficiency among Michigan students remains at a 10-year low following government-imposed school closuring during the pandemic.

“This report shows that, more than four years since COVID-19’s unprecedented disruptions to learning and schooling began, student achievement trends in Michigan show signs of progress but not full ‘recovery,’” according to EPIC. “On average, math achievement has improved significantly, while reading achievement has remained largely unchanged.”

Other data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows Michigan’s inflation adjusted household income has tanked 3% since Whitmer took office, despite a 2% increase in median earnings.

A 2023 American Community Survey released in September shows that while median household income nationwide declined 1% from 2019 to 2023 to $77,719, in Michigan the inflation-adjusted measure was down 3% to $69,183, outpacing all but 14 states.

Michigan’s unemployment rate, meanwhile, has increased for eight straight months to 4.8% in November. The increasing unemployment rate translates into about 36,000 more Michiganders out of work than in November 2023, an increase of 17.3%, according to data from Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget.

But even folks who do have a job are struggling to survive.

Data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis pegs Michigan’s per capita income – total income divided by the number of adult residents – at $61,144 in 2023. The figure is dead last among Great Lakes states and 40^th nationally, more than 12% below the national average of $69,815, Bridge Michigan reports.

Since Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was re-elected in 2022, per capita income has reached “the lowest we’ve ever been,” Lou Glazer, president of the think tank Michigan Future Inc., told the news site.

It’s a major reason why a whopping 41% of Michiganders cannot afford a basic survival budget that includes housing, transportation, child care, food and other necessitates, though that figure is more than half in many counties and nearly 80% in some urban communities, according to a United for ALICE report.

The report shows about 200,000 more Michigan residents are struggling to afford a survival budget than when Whitmer took office.

All of the above is contributing to a mass exodus from the Great Lakes State, which ranked 49^th among states for population growth since 2020.

And Glazer and others predict Michigan’s “enormous collapse” under Whitmer will only get worse without significant changes.

A report issued last year by Glazer and economist Donald Grimes warns Michigan would end up as the 48^th poorest state in the country by 2047, behind only Alabama and Mississippi.