Boston fifth-best city in Northeast to raise a family: Report

Boston was the fifth-best city in the Northeast to raise a family as of the end of July, according to a report from real estate listings and research site Zumper. Though the city was 62nd-best compared with the rest of the nation overall.

In the Northeast, Boston finished behind Syracuse, Rochester, Providence, and Pittsburgh. For the U.S. entirely, Boston barely registered. Madison, Wisconsin, finished first, followed by several Midwestern and Southern cities.

The Northeast, in fact, didn’t make an appearance on Zumper’s ranking until No. 25 Syracuse. And it had nothing to do with the weather.

Instead, Zumper crunched data on things such as the percentages of residents’ incomes that go toward mortgages or rents; commute times; childcare costs ... As you might imagine, uber-expensive Boston scored poorly on these measures when compared with much cheaper locales.

Hence its low rank on suitability for raising a family. For No. 2 finisher Lincoln, Nebraska, for instance, only 20.3 percent of residents report spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing. Bully for them.

• The best cities to raise a family [Zumper]
• To rent an average Boston two-bedroom, here’s what you need to earn [Curbed Boston]