By ANDREA LANNOM
The Register-Herald
BECKLEY, W.Va. — Two West Virginia cities, Beckley and Charleston, appear on a list of the 25 worst cities to raise a child.
On Tuesday, 24/7 Wall Street released the list with Beckley ranking ninth worst and Charleston ranking 21st.
The Delaware company, 24/7 Wall St. LLC runs a financial news and opinion company, publishing more than 30 articles per day reaching readers in North America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, according to the release.
To identify the 25 worst cities, 24/7 Wall Street created an index comprised of violent crimes, quality of the school district and share of the population with access to physical activity like parks and recreation centers.
The list docked Beckley and Charleston for areas including easy access to venues for physical activity and low pre-school enrollment.
The release said 47.2 percent of Beckley’s population has easy access to physical activity venues, which it said is below the 84 percent share of residents nationwide.
The release also said children in Beckley are more likely to face serious financial hardship and less likely to receive preventative medical care. It said 25.7 percent of area children live in poverty and 11.7 percent are without health insurance. Comparatively, the release said that nationwide, 20.7 percent live in poverty and 4.8 percent are without health insurance.
For Beckley, it listed the pre-school enrollment as 26.9 percent, graduation rate as 83 percent and violent crime rate as 440 per 100,000 residents.
For Charleston, the report listed pre-school enrollment as 26.7 percent, graduation rate as 86 percent, population with access to areas for activity as 66.7 percent and violent crime rate as 530 per 100,000.
The release said the ideal city to raise children should be safe, have high quality schools and opportunities for recreational venues. It said only areas with combinations of high violent crime rates, low preschool enrollment, low high-school graduation rates and limited access to parks and recreation centers made the list.
Cities on the list with the worst listed first are: Fairbanks, Alaska; Farmington, N.M.; Anchorage, Alaska; Hammond, La; Odessa, Texas; Monroe, La.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Goldsboro, N.C.; Beckley, W.Va.; Danville, Ill.; Lawton, Okla..; Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nev.; Rocky Mount, N.C.; Gadsden, Ala.; Hanford-Corcoran, Calif.; Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, Fla.; Pueblo, Colo.; Yakima, Wash.; Sebring, Fla.; Memphis, Tenn.; Charleston, W.Va.; Battle Creek, Mich.; Texarkana, Texas; Medford, Ore.; and Jackson, Tenn.
— Email: [email protected]; follow on Twitter @AndreaLannom
See more from The Register-Herald
