The City of Fitchburg is pleased to announce that it has been named as the #10 America’s Best Place for Families to Live by Fortune Magazine.
On Wednesday, Fortune released its 2023 Best Places to Live for Families ranking. The magazine analyzed almost 1,900 U.S. cities, towns, suburbs, exurbs, villages, and townships with at least 20,000 residents. Analysts looked at over 200,000 data points for the locations in five categories: education, aging resources, general wellness, financial health and livability.
Fitchburg is the only community in Wisconsin to receive this acknowledgement. “I am thrilled that our city is recognized as one of the 10 best places for families to live as we celebrate our 40th anniversary of incorporating as a City.” said Mayor Julia Arata-Fratta. “This remarkable honor is testimony of our community values and commitment to make our city as a welcoming place while creating a thriving environment for families to flourish. Fitchburg with its amazing landscapes and parks, vibrant neighborhoods, three great school districts, and diversity of its people, is a great place to work, live and play.” explained Arata-Fratta.
According to Fortune, this particular ranking focused on multigenerational families, which may involve parents living with their children and aging parents. The ranking looked at factors affecting this type of family, including quality of public schools, graduation rates, and number of quality nursing homes, home health care agencies, access to quality health care providers and more.
The magazine credits Fitchburg as a place to enjoy all four seasons, offering farmers markets and art fairs in the warmer months, and apple picking and beer and wine festivals in the fall, along with the city’s vast network of parks, trails, and nature preserves, including Capital City State Trail and scenic McKee Farms Park. Fortune also mentioned the access to quality health care, with more than 180 above-average family physicians available within a 30-mile radius and mentions the Fitchburg Senior Center, offering the older adult population a wealth of wellness classes, game nights, and other senior assistance programs. Fitchburg’s population is about 10.8 percent Black, 18.08 percent Hispanic and 6.23 percent Asian, which was noted in the analysis.