Birmingham is the best city in the United States for single-parent homeownership, according to a new ranking.

The United Way of the National Capital Area ranked the 50 largest U.S. cities according to their single-parent homeownership rates, housing affordability, and access to FHA loans. They also looked at childcare costs, public school ratings, property taxes, homeowners insurance rates and unemployment rates.

At issue was those households that fall into the ALICE subset – asset-limited, income-restrained, employed households. That’s the percentage of single-parent homes where the breadwinner earns more than the federal poverty line ($31,200 annually for a family of four) but still cannot afford basic necessities. This can lead to choices such as between paying rent or childcare.

Alabama has about 30% of its households falling into the ALICE metric, while the national average is 29%.

The United Way of the National Capital Area conducted the ranking because a majority of female-led and male-led households fall below the ALICE threshold in the Washington, D.C. metro area.

The ranking states that 55.37% of single parents in the Birmingham area are homeowners.

According to the ranking, Birmingham leads the nation because of “some of the most family-friendly financial advantages in the country.”

Birmingham has the second-lowest average babysitting fee at $15.73 per hour, according to the ranking. It also has the third-lowest unemployment rate in the study, at 2.4%, and the second-lowest property tax rate. The cost of living in the Magic City is 8% lower than the national average.

In addition, there are some advantages specific to Alabama. The state has the fifth-highest number of HUD loans for FHA home purchases (25.35 loans per 10K residents), and the lowest childcare costs, averaging $8,771 annually for daycare. The national average cost of childcare is $11,582.

Coming in second behind Birmingham was Salt Lake City, followed by New Orleans, Indianapolis and Tampa.