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What's Good

•Compared to other states, California has among the most generous family-leave and disability laws in our survey.

•California allows greater dependent-related tax breaks than most.

•The CDC reports very low infant mortality rates for California.

•San Jose babies are 30 percent less likely than average to be born with low birth weight.

•Babies here are 28 percent less likely than average to be born prematurely.

•92 percent of San Jose mothers attempt breastfeeding. That's the highest percentage of any city in our report. The average for cities in our survey is 75 percent.

•By six months of age, 64 percent of San Jose babies are still being breastfed. That's the 2nd highest percentage of any city in our report. The average for cities in our survey is 43 percent.

•California has particularly progressive laws guaranteeing a nursing mother the right to breastfeed in public.

•The local climate is especially mild - perfect for getting out and working off pregnancy weight gain.

•Once San Jose mothers begin breastfeeding, they are 25 percent more likely than average to continue through 6 months. That's the 2nd highest level of follow-through of any city in our report.

•California stands out in a measure of legislation related to cord blood education, research and related issues.

•San Jose has 17 licensed home day cares for every 1,000 children under 4 years, the 10th highest in our survey. The average city in our survey has 13.

•San Jose's violent crime rate is 63 percent lower than average, the lowest in our survey, in fact.

•San Jose has a 53 percent lower property crime rate than average, the 2nd lowest in our survey.

Needs Improvement

•Hospital costs here are among the highest in our survey.

•At $110, the average doctor's office visit here is the 4th highest in our survey, compared to a national average of $82.

•According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, San Jose is 74 percent less affordable than average for cities in our survey.

•Relative to population, San Jose has fewer specialty retailers of healthy/organic foods and vitamins than most places in our survey.

•San Jose has 11 midwives for every 1,000 births, the 7th lowest in our survey. The national average is 37 midwives for every 1,000 births.

•With one acre of parkland for every 255 residents, there's 115 percent less public park space than average here, relative to population.

•Expecting and new moms have few parks: San Jose's ratio of parks to residents is 1 : 5,284. The average in our survey is 1 : 3,790.

•San Jose has 1.7 NICU facilities per 10,000 births, 7th lowest in our survey. The average city in our survey has 3.4 NICU facilities per 10,000 live births.

•San Jose has fewer OB-GYNs than average, the 8th lowest in our survey.

•There are no state laws requiring day care workers to undergo special SIDS prevention training. Many other states mandate such training.

•In a comparison of inspection schedules for day-care centers, California requires less frequent visits than average.

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