Arizona is #42 out of all the 50 States For Wallet Hub's 2021 Survey - One of The Worst

No matter what hype that state and city officials have said for years that "Arizona/Mesa is a Great Place Place to Raise A Family, Live, Work and Play" a major site that the City of Mesa Newsroom likes to "cherry-pick" only the good news, has produced a reality check:

Here are details: https://wallethub.com/edu/best-states-to-raise-a-family/31065 

The report compared all 50 states across five dimensions: family fun, health and safety, education and child care, affordability and socioeconomics using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the FBI and TransUnion, among other sources. Making up those dimensions were 52 indicators related to family well-being, from public-school quality to job opportunities to COVID-19 weekly death rate.

Here are the 10 best states to raise a family, according to WalletHub:

1. Massachusetts
2. Minnesota
3. North Dakota
4. New York
5. Vermont
6. New Hampshire
7. New Jersey
8. Washington
9. Connecticut
10. Utah

Here are the 10 worst states to raise a family, according to WalletHub:

41. Nevada
42. Arizona
43. South Carolina
44. Alabama
45. Arkansas
46. Oklahoma
47. Louisiana
48. West Virginia
49. Mississippi

50. New Mexico 

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What about "fastest-growing"?

These Are the 10 Fastest-Growing States in America

Idaho and Arizona are among the states that have seen the largest percentage growth in population compared to 2019, according to new estimates released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

America’s Fastest-Growing States

Southern and Western states are seeing recent population growth, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau

Overall, the bureau estimates the total U.S. population to be at more than 329 million in 2020 – a 0.35% increase compared to last year. The Southern and Western regions saw population increases, while the Northeast and Midwest saw minor decreases.

The new estimates – which are accurate up through July 1, 2020 – were created without incorporation of the ongoing 2020 census results, and are based on the last decennial census in 2010, according to the bureau's release.

Nine of the 10 fastest-growing states had population increases greater than 1%. Idaho saw, by far, the biggest growth compared to 2019 at 2.12%, with Arizona seeing a 1.78% increase and Nevada and Utah both seeing bumps of around 1.5%. Delaware – the only state in the top 10 that isn't located in the South or the West – is projected to have seen a 1% population increase in 2020.