Idaho is almost dead last in the nation for education, and we're in the bottom half overall on Wallethub's list of the Best & Worst States to Raise a Family.  What are we doing wrong?

Wallethub looked at which states offer the best combination of qualities that matter most to parents and their kids and said Minnesota is the best state in America to raise a family.  But the winters stink worse than ours.  Moving to Minnesota might not be an option, so we're committed to figuring out what's wrong with Idaho.  We rank 46th for the education -- pretty close to dead last.  Only Louisiana, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico fared worse.

Overall, Idaho ranked 29th among the Best & Worst States to Raise a Family list that also included safety, family fun, and affordability.   Why did we rank so poorly on education?  Factors that went into the education ranking include child care options, parental leave, graduation rate, and the share of kids who participate in extracurricular activities.

Factors that went into the health and safety ranking include crimes per capita, air pollution, pediatricians per capita, water quality, the safety of roads around schools, and the support kids get from neighborhoods and from parents.  That was the category where we ranked the highest, at number 11.  We ranked 40th in the family fun category and 47th for affordability.  Not great.

No matter what they say, I always feel like Idaho is a safe place to be and I feel like the kids have plenty of opportunities to succeed and have fun doing it, don't you?  All we can do is make the most of life in our own living rooms, really.  And I'm still trying to beat the kids there at that stinkin' board game called Beat the Parents.  They always seem to win that.

Sure, there's always room for improvement with everything in life, but at the same time, a good dose of appreciation is a good idea too.  And life's not so bad in Idaho.

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