Raising children on one income is no small feat, particularly when housing costs, child care expenses and the demands of work leave little room for financial surprises. But a new national study suggests Worcester may offer single mothers a better combination of affordability and family resources than many of the country’s larger metropolitan areas.
Worcester ranked first among the U.S. metropolitan areas examined in a 2026 analysis by SingleMothersGrants.org, which compared communities using measures ranging from rent and child care costs to public safety, health care access and education.
The study placed Worcester ahead of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, and Omaha, Nebraska, which finished second and third, respectively. Hartford, Connecticut, and Albany, New York, rounded out the top five…