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Print This PageWichita, KS
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What's Good
- According to the Urban Mobility Report from Texas A&M University, Wichita has one of the best commutes of any city in our survey, it takes only 10 percent longer to drive the same route during rush hour than in free-flowing traffic. That takes a lot of pressure off parents rushing to day care at the end of the day.
- Babies here are 11 percent less likely than average to be born prematurely.
- Housing in Wichita is exceptionally affordable: When comparing household incomes to home values, a key measure of affordability, Wichita has the highest ratio in our survey.
- Kansas devotes more money relative to population than most states to child car-seat-check stations.
- Pedestrians have a 52 percent lower than average risk of being killed by a motor vehicle--among the safest in our survey.
- Wichita has 39 licensed home day cares for every 1,000 children under 4 years, the 3rd highest in our survey.
Needs Improvement
- State laws do not require health insurance companies to provide or offer any fertility-related services.
- Kansas has no provisions for dependent related tax breaks.
- State laws require less-stringent day-care worker checks than most.
- The local climate can be extreme - not conducive to getting out and working off pregnancy weight gain.
- Just 2.7 percent of births statewide are attended by midwives. That's 64 percent less than average.
- Midwives are not widely available locally.
- Women in Wichita are 53 percent more likely than average to smoke during pregnancy. That's the 9th highest rate in our survey. Nationwide, about 1 out of every 12 pregnant women smokes.
