NEW YORK, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Women seeking the best place to
work and raise children in the United States may want to head to
Ohio, where three of its cities have been voted among the 10
best for working mothers.
Columbus topped the ranking by Forbes, edging past New
Orleans and Hartford, Connecticut and their surrounding areas.
Cincinnati and its suburb of Middletown came in fourth, just
ahead of Providence and neighboring towns in Rhode Island.
With a population of 1.8 million, Columbus scored high marks
for its higher than average salaries for women, who make up 44
percent of the city's workforce.
The city also boasts a jobless rate of 5.7 percent, much
lower than the national 7.8 percent, and good schools and
childcare, according to Forbes.
"Pairing the excellent unemployment rate with an affordable
but impressive quality of living makes the city an attractive
locale for savvy working moms," Forbes said.
Another Ohio city, Cleveland, came in seventh, while
Buffalo, New York, which topped the list last year, dropped to
eighth place.
New Orleans' affordable childcare and higher per-pupil
spending helped to propel it into the top 10. Families in the
city, known as the Big Easy, pay about $5,900 annually for
childcare, while New Yorkers have to budget more than double
that amount - roughly $13,000.
Although working mothers are paid among the highest salaries
in Boston and Washington D.C., both cities dropped out of the
top 10 this year because the cost of living and childcare are
above average, according to Forbes.
And like New York, where people spend as much as 80 minutes
commuting each day, workers in Boston and the nation's capital
also have lengthy trips back and forth to work.
To compile the list, Forbes ranked the cities on job
opportunities and earning potential, cost of living, commuting
times, cost of childcare, quality of schools, crime rates and
healthcare.
It used data from various sources including the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics, the FBI Uniform Crime Report, the National
Association of Child Care Research and Referral Agencies and the
ACCRA Cost of Living Index.
The full list can be found at http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2012/10/10/the-best-cities-for-working-mothers-2012/
(Reporting by Patricia Reaney; editing by Jill Serjeant and
Richard Chang)