WELLINGTON, Fla. — Wellington is ranked eighth on Fortune's list of "50 Best Places to Live for Families," selecting one place from each state.
Fortune Well, which was launched last year, described Wellington as "A horse-lover’s paradise, Wellington offers equestrian flair mixed with the delights of coastal living."
Staff members evaluated nearly 1,900 cities, towns, suburbs, exurbs, villages and townships that had approximately 20,000 residents across all 50 states in the U.S.
Fortune reviewed more than 200,000 unique data points across five broad categories: education, aging resources, general wellness, financial health and livability.
Racial, socioeconomic, religious and ethnic diversity were incorporated into its data collection process.
“Wellington's success in this ranking is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our entire team," Village Manager, Jim Barnes said in a posting on its website. "By continuously delivering best-in-class services, we have made Wellington a great hometown that meets the diverse needs of our residents. We extend our sincere gratitude to everyone involved for their vision and commitment to making Wellington a community of choice for all.”
Wellington, with a population of 61,438, according to the U.S. Census Bureau estimate in 2022, is the fifth largest municipality in Palm Beach County.
Wellington is named after Charles Oliver Wellington, an accountant from Massachusetts, bought several tracts of land in 1951. Wellington officially became a village on Dec. 31, 1995.
"Wellington is recognized as the winter equestrian capital of the world," according to the village website. "The community offers tremendous diversity from apartments to lavish homes where residents have private airplane hangars. Most importantly, however, Wellington is a Great Hometown."
The Wellington Aquatics Complex consists of a state-of-the-art Olympic-size pool.
The magazine said the list showcases where multigenerational families are most likely to have access to critical resources, community support and financial well-being.
“Last year we focused on the 25 places most able to support multigenerational families, regardless of location," Editor Jennifer Fields said in a news release. "This year, as part of Fortune’s ongoing commitment to meeting our readers where they are, we decided to showcase 50, giving working professionals a sense of where their families may be best supported, regardless of their state of residence.”
The top 10 list is No. 1 Cambridge, Mass; No. 2 Portsmouth, N.H.; No. 3 Silver Spring, Md.; No. 4 Tualatin, Ore.; No. 5 Middletown, Del.; No. 6: Olathe, Kansas; No. 7; Eastvale, Calif.; No. 8 Wellington, Fla.; No. 9 Greenburgh, N.Y.; No. 10 Fitchburg, Wis.
Two cities, Olathe, Kan., and Iowa City, Iowa, ranked 17th, made the list for the second year in a row.
In March, a Harris poll conducted on behalf of Fortune found that nearly half of Americans plan to move within the next two years.
"For those who have recently relocated, finding a better community or area and being closer to support systems were among the most important considerations when choosing where to live," Fortune reporter Alexa Mikhail said. "For those who plan to move within the next two years, 79% reported nearby support systems as a top factor."
Fortune specifically emphasized the challenges faced by multigenerational families, who often juggle raising children while caring for aging parents. The ranking took into account the quality of local public schools, graduation rates, affordability of nearby colleges, availability of nursing homes, assisted living communities, home health care agencies, risk of social isolation among older residents and access to top-notch health care providers.
The Palm Beach School District graduation rate was 87.57% with 36% of the schools serving the area ranked "above average."
There are 10 hospitals within 25 miles of the village and 19 nursing homes within 50 miles.
Fortune eliminated places with home sale prices that were more than twice as high as the state median and/or more than 2.75 times higher than the national median.
"Wellington emerged as a place where residents can purchase homes without breaking the bank," according to a release from the Village.
Wellington's media sale price for single-family residences was $602,318 in 2022 with a median household income of $112,831.
Fortune’s staff compared the racial breakdown against state benchmarks, eliminating any place that was 75% less diverse than state medians.
In Wellington the makeup was 25% Hispanic, 12.57% Black and 4.73% Asian. In tne U.S., it is 18.9% Hispanic, 13.6 Black and 6.1% Asian.
Fortune relied on information from federal agencies as well as private data.
