Tennessee ranks low in best places to have a baby, but higher than other states in the South

There are a lot of factors that go into the decision to have a baby. Expectant parents must consider the costs of the newborn, child are availability, parental leave from work and much more.

In a recent WalletHub study, the financial advisor company studied all the major financial and well-being factors of having a child in the U.S. to determine which state is the best, or the worst, to have a baby.

All 50 states, plus Washington, D.C., were judged on four key metrics: costs, health care, baby-friendliness and family-friendliness, according to WalletHub.

Here's how the Volunteer State ranked in the study.

Tennessee ranks in bottom 50% in places in U.S. to have a child

Tennessee is ranked No. 35 in the best place to have a baby, according to the WalletHub analysis, ranking just ahead of Missouri and one spot behind Arizona.

The Volunteer State scored 43.05 out of 100 possible points in the rankings, with its best category (No. 25) being for its availability of accredited child-care centers and number of mom groups per capita. Tennessee ranked No. 38 in healthcare, its poorest score.

Despite Tennessee's bottom 50% ranking, it fared better than nearly all other Southern states, with the exception of North Carolina, No. 33, and Virginia, No. 22.

Four of Tennessee's neighboring states were among the worst places in the nation to have a child. Mississippi ranked dead last and Alabama ranked No. 50, scoring 24 and 29 points, respectively. Georgia ranked at No. 47 and Arkansas placed slightly higher at No. 45.

What are the best states to have a baby?

1. Massachusetts

2. North Dakota

3. Minnesota

4. New Hampshire

5. Maine

What are the worst states to have a baby?

1. Mississippi

2. Alabama

3. Nevada

4. South Carolina

5. Georgia

How many babies are born in the U.S. each year?

More than 3.5 million babies are born in the United States each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. That's about 10,000 babies born each day.

How many babies are born in Tennessee each year?

There were approximately 83,742 births in Tennessee in 2024, according to the University of Tennessee State Data Center.

While birth rates have declined steadily across the country in recent years, 2024 marked the fourth year in a row that birth rates have increased in Tennessee.

However, this does not mean more people are choosing to have children, but instead a growing population of females in their "prime child-bearing years," according to the Tennessee State Data Center analysis.

Where is the best place in Tennessee to raise a family?

In a previous study, WalletHub investigated where the best places are in Tennessee to raise a family. Nashville is the best place to raise kids in Tennessee, followed by Knoxville.

Nashville ranked well in education & child care in the recent WalletHub study, which comes as no surprise to those familiar with the area. Middle Tennessee is home to some of the Volunteer State's top high schools, including Central Magnet School, Hume Fogg Magnet High School and Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School.

Additionally, Music City scored well in the affordability category, despite the city's notoriously high housing costs.

Knoxville also scored well in education & child care. This accounts for the quality of schools, child day centers per capita, child care costs and more. Knoxville's L&N STEM Academy consistently ranks as a top school.

The category that dragged Knoxville down was socio-economics, which accounts for the share of families living in poverty, unemployment rates, divorce rates and more.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Is Tennessee a good place to have a baby? Here's where it ranked