US News unveils the 2025 best cars for families

Best Cars for Families award winners excel in seating, cargo volume, and family friendliness.

By Bruce Brown Published March 14, 2025

2025 Jeep Wagoneer L — Courtesy Stellantis

U.S. News & World Report has announced its 2025 Best Cars for Families awards. This annual program honors cars, SUVs, and minivans in nine automotive categories, from sedans and compact SUVS to large SUVS and SUV EVs.

The U.S. News & World Reports’ yearly automotive ratings are based on safety, reliability, space, comfort, convenience, and connectivity. This year’s winners are from seven manufacturers, ranging from standard models to premium cars, including the Kia Telluride midsize SUV, the Jeep Wagoneer large SUV, and the Kia EV9 electric SUV.

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Winning features of the Best Cars for Families

2025 Kia Telluride
In addition to the primary considerations for all car categories, the cars selected for the Best Cars for Families award must be the best in their respective categories for seating, cargo volume, and family friendliness.

The evaluators look for active and passive safety features, including frames, airbags, and electronic safety attributes such as rear-seat alerts, front and rear automatic braking, and parking assistance. Rear sunshades are also a plus.

The judges also included automatic reverse emergency braking, teen drive controls, and driver assistance features such as lane-centering and lane keeping, blindspot, and rear cross-traffic alerts on their checklists.

Connectivity matters in family cars, with Wi-Fi, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, wireless smartphone charging, and ample USB ports high on the list.

The 2025 Best Cars for Families award winners

Kia EV9 — 2024 EV9 front 3/4 view Kia / Kia

This year’s 2025 Best Cars for Families include six winners from last year and three newcomers.

2025 Best Cars for Families

Honda Accord: Best Midsize Car for Families
Honda Accord Hybrid: Best Hybrid Car for Families

2025 Best SUVs for Families

Hyundai Tucson: Best Compact SUV for Families
Mazda CX-70: Best 2-Row Midsize SUV for Families
Kia Telluride: Best 3-Row Midsize SUV for Families
Jeep Wagoneer L: Best Large SUV for Families
Toyota Highlander Hybrid: Best Hybrid SUV for Families

2025 Best Electric Vehicle for Families

Kia EV9: Best Electric Vehicle for Families

2025 Best Minivan for Families

Chrysler Pacifica: Best Minivan for Families

Former Digital Trends Contributor

A Digital Trends Contributing Editor and Contributor for TheManual.com, Bruce Brown writes e-mobility reviews and covers…

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