US News unveils the 2025 best cars for families

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.

Winning features of the Best Cars for Families

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.