Television executives seized the idea long ago: American families value where they plant their roots. The Cosbys had Brooklyn. The Cunninghams, Milwaukee. The Simpsons, Springfield. But fathers face reality when they're not in prime time. They want to raise their children somewhere safe, where they can attend good schools with favorable student-teacher ratios, above-average test scores and respectable budgets. Plenty of museums, parks and pediatricians also contribute to a good quality of life, whereas multihour commutes, expensive houses and divorcing friends and neighbors do not. Best Life editors used these categories and data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Center for Education Statistics, the FBI, the American Association of Museums, the National Center for Health Statistics and the American Bar Association to evaluate 257 cities. Here are the best — and worst — places to raise a family.

1      Honolulu, Hawaii — Schools spend almost $9,000 per pupil, unemployment ranks less than half the national average, and you can play on the island of O'ahu's 125 beaches.
2      Virginia Beach, Virginia
3      Billings, Montana
4      Columbus, Georgia
5      San Diego, California
6      Des Moines, Iowa
7      Minneapolis, Minnesota
8      Madison, Wisconsin — Madison has a high number of pediatricians per capita.
9      Colorado Springs, Colorado
10    Santa Rosa, California
11    Wichita, Kansas
12    Los Angeles, California
13    Corona, California
14    Austin, Texas
15    Stamford, Connecticut
16    Omaha, Nebraska
17    Naperville, Illinois
18    Fort Wayne, Indiana
19    Springfield, Illinois
20    Boise, Idaho
21    Manchester, New Hampshire
22    South Bay Area, California
23    New York, New York
24    Fontana, California
25    Louisville, Kentucky
26    Plano, Texas
27    Oceanside, California
28    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
29    Sacramento, California
30    Ann Arbor, Michigan
31    Reno, Nevada
32    Las Vegas, Nevada
33    Lincoln, Nebraska
34    San Bernardino, California
35    Grand Rapids, Michigan
36    Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina — Median value of a home: $202,733
37    Kansas City, Kansas
38    Fremont, California
39    Buffalo, New York
40    Berkeley, California
41    Cambridge, Massachusetts
42    Kansas City, Missouri
43    Waterbury, Connecticut
44    Syracuse, New York
45    Phoenix, Arizona
46    Albuquerque, New Mexico
47    Akron, Ohio
48    Boston, Massachusetts
49    Escondido, California
50    Fairfield, California

Source: MSNBC.com