Long Beachians looking to settle down may opt for neighboring suburbs due to a new study.
Long Beach was ranked as one of the worst cities in California for family life according to a study released this month by consumer and finance social media website WalletHub.
Long Beach Public Affairs Officer Kerry Gerot took issue with the study’s findings.
“We find it hard to take seriously a for-profit financial services corporation that is looking to create news to sell loans and insurance,” Gert said in an emailed statement.
WalletHub researchers used data from various federal and state sources to create the rankings, including the U.S. Census Bureau, the California Department of Education, Yelp, Tripadvisor and WalletHub itself.
Using the data, researchers measured and compared 240 cities across four categories: family life and fun, education, health and safety, affordability and socioeconomic environment.
Senior biochemistry student Sheri Satterfield spent her entire childhood in Long Beach and thought the ranking was extreme.
[sidebar title=”Long Beach Ranking by Wallethub among California Cities” align=”right” background=”on” border=”left” shadow=”on”]- Percentage of families with children younger than 18: 100th
- Quality of school system: 137th
- Number of Playgrounds per Capita: 143rd
- High School Graduation Rate: 186th
- Unemployment Rate: 189th
- Violent-Crime Rate per Capita: 193rd
- Percentage of Families Below Poverty Level: 191st
- Median family salary: 201st
- Housing Affordability: 215th
- Separation and Divorce Rate: 220th
“There are bad parts of Long Beach, but that is just like every other city; there are bad parts and there are good parts,” Satterfield said.
Long Beach ranked 209th, 31 places ahead of the worst ranked city, Huntington Park. The No. 1 city for family life according to the study is Folsom, a city most commonly known for its prison.
Earlier this year, WalletHub named Long Beach as the second worst run city in the U.S. and as the second most diverse city in the U.S.
“Long Beach is one of the most affordable beach cities with miles of open beaches, a vibrant downtown, thriving marinas, wonderful neighborhoods, a symphony, an opera, a performing arts complex, the Queen Mary attraction, a well-regarded and sought after university, the Aquarium of the Pacific, a huge amount of open park space, and more family programming during the summer months than most cities,” Gerot said.
Long Beach generally scored below average in most categories, landing in the bottom half of cities listed.
Long Beach native and senior social work student Andreina Zamudio expressed skepticism with the study’s methods and findings.
“We all have different views on what family life is,” Zamudio said. “I want to know who the study is based on, what area of Long Beach, and what kind of families were analyzed because I would definitely raise a family in Long Beach,” Zamudio said.
Other local cities listed include Cerritos, ranked 68th, Lakewood, ranked 91st, Downey, ranked 157th, Bellflower, ranked 206th, Los Angeles, ranked 215th and Paramount, ranked 216th.