Edmunds: The best midsize SUVs for families in 2025

Along with smartphones and streaming subscriptions, the three-row SUV is now a staple of American family life. And since nearly every automaker sells one, choosing the right one can feel overwhelming. Some buyers will want the best fuel economy, while others may value tech and safety features. But all three-row SUV buyers can likely agree on room. You can never have enough passenger or cargo space in a family SUV, and here Edmunds’ car experts have gathered their top picks based on roominess, value and versatility. Call it the battle of the Oversized Midsized. All prices include the destination fee.

Chevrolet Traverse

To get anything bigger than the Traverse in Chevy’s lineup, you’d have to buy a Tahoe or Suburban. The Traverse seats up to seven passengers and its cargo space — 22.9 cubic feet behind the third row — is outstanding for a midsize SUV. When you really need to haul things, folding both rows serves up a maximum of 98 cubic feet, which is more than six times as big as a typical midsize sedan’s trunk. The Traverse’s cavernous cargo space is complemented by generous legroom for adults in the third row. The Traverse’s 328-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder engine helps this SUV tow up to 5,000 pounds and get up to an EPA-estimated 23 mpg combined in regular driving.

2025 Traverse starting price: $41,995

Kia Telluride

With its upscale interior, standard eight-passenger seating and many standard driver assist features, the Telluride works great as a family hauler. There’s lots of second-row legroom, so even the tallest kids and adults have room to relax. Even the third row offers up ample legroom and still leaves 21 cubic feet of cargo space behind it. The Telluride’s 291-horsepower V6 engine gets up to an EPA-estimated 22 mpg combined and is backed by a long 10-year powertrain warranty. Buyers who prefer a little more luxury can opt for the Hyundai Palisade, a mechanical twin to the Telluride underneath the sheet metal. It’s not hard to see why the Telluride remains one of Edmunds’ top-rated SUVs.

2025 Telluride starting price: $37,585

Nissan Pathfinder

Bridging the gap between Nissan’s compact Rogue and the big, truck-ish Armada, the Pathfinder is a just-right three-row choice. It seats eight, comes with a 284-horsepower V6 engine and gets up to 23 mpg combined. It’s also one of the more inexpensive choices in the class, even when fully loaded. Like the Traverse, the Pathfinder is a boon for taller drivers thanks to lots of front legroom. Second- and third-row passengers also get plenty of space, although it comes at the expense of cargo space. There’s only 16.6 cubic feet of space behind the third row. What the Pathfinder lacks in cargo, however, it makes up for with extra towing potential. Properly equipped, the Pathfinder can pull up to 6,000 pounds, about 1,000 pounds more than its rivals.

2025 Pathfinder starting price: $38,460

Toyota Grand Highlander

As you can likely gather by its name, the Grand Highlander is an even bigger and fancier version of Toyota’s regular Highlander SUV. The Toyota’s 20.6 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third row is only fractionally smaller than the Kia Telluride’s, which means there’s ample room for gear and goods. It’s also massively roomy for second- and third-row passengers. The Grand Highlander is a bit pricey, but buyers seeking fuel efficiency will appreciate its EPA estimate of up to 24 mpg combined. There’s also the even more efficient Grand Highlander Hybrid version that gets up to 36 mpg combined that starts at around $46,000.

2024 Grand Highlander starting price:$45,08

Volkswagen Atlas

With a name like Atlas, you’d expect this Volkswagen SUV to be big, and you’d be right. The third row is big enough to seat many adults, and there’s 20.6 cubic feet of cargo space behind it. Folding the two back rows delivers 96.8 cubic feet, almost the same as the Traverse. There are also plenty of spaces inside to stash small personal items. A 269-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder engine gets up to an EPA-estimated 22 mpg combined. Volkswagen also sees to it that even a base Atlas comes with a lot of standard features, including heated and ventilated front seats, synthetic leather upholstery and a wireless phone charger.

2025 Atlas starting price:$39,625

When buying a midsize three-row SUV, you want to get the most passenger and cargo space for your money. Fortunately, some of the best picks are also the roomiest.

This story was provided to The Associated Press by the automotive website Edmunds.

Dan Frio is a contributor at Edmunds.

This photo provided by Volkswagen shows the 2025 Atlas. With a massive cargo area and space for adults in all three rows, it's one of the most spacious midsize SUVs you can buy. (Volkswagen of America via AP)

This photo provided by Toyota shows the 2024 Grand Highlander. It has one of most adult-friendly third rows you'll find and scores high for fuel efficiency, comfort and technology. (Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. via AP)

This photo provided by Nissan shows the 2025 Pathfinder. The Rock Creek version pictured here has all-terrain tires and a lifted suspension to provide a bit more off-road capability. (Nissan North America via AP)

This photo provided by Kia shows the 2025 Telluride. It boasts a quiet cabin, impressive tech, extensive standard features and adult-friendly third-row seating. (Kia America via AP)

This photo provided by Chevrolet shows the 2025 Traverse. The Traverse got a redesign last year and is one of the roomiest three-row midsize SUVs you can buy. (General Motors via AP)

SAN FRANCISCO & JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 12, 2026--

Abridge, the leading enterprise-grade AI for clinical conversations, is collaborating with Availity, the nation’s largest real-time health information network, to launch a first-of-its kind prior authorization experience. The engagement uses cutting-edge technology grounded in the clinician-patient conversation to facilitate a more efficient process between clinicians and health plans in medical necessity review.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260112960386/en/

Rather than creating parallel AI systems across healthcare stakeholders, Abridge and Availity are working together to ensure shared clinical context at the point of conversation powers administrative processes, such as prior authorization review and submission, improving outcomes for patients and the teams delivering care.

This collaboration unites two trusted and scaled organizations: combining Abridge’s enterprise-grade AI platform, serving over 200 health systems and projected to support over 80 million patient-clinician conversations in 2026, with Availity’s next-generation, FHIR-native Intelligent Utilization Management solution, which helps payers and providers digitize and operationalize coverage requirements within administrative workflows.

Availity’s FHIR-native APIs enable fast, scalable, and secure connectivity of payer information across the entire healthcare ecosystem. With Abridge’s Contextual Reasoning Engine technology, clinicians can gain visibility into relevant clinical information during the conversation to support documentation aligned with prior authorization requirements.

“At Availity, we’ve invested in building AI-powered, FHIR-native APIs designed to bring clinical policy logic directly into provider workflows,” said Russ Thomas, CEO of Availity. “By embedding our technology at the point of conversation, we’re enabling faster, more transparent utilization management decisions rooted in clinical context. We’re excited to collaborate with Abridge and to demonstrate what’s possible when payer intelligence meets real-time provider workflows.”

The development of real-time prior authorization is just a component of a broader revenue cycle collaboration that is focused on applying real-time conversational intelligence across the patient, provider, and payer experiences. The companies intend to support integration by collaborating on workflow alignment between their respective platforms in the following areas:

“Abridge and Availity are each bringing national scale, deep trust, and a track record of solving important challenges across the care and claims experience to this partnership,” said Dr. Shiv Rao, CEO and Co-Founder of Abridge. “We’re building real-time bridges between patients, providers, and payers, unlocking shared understanding, focused at the point of conversation.”

About Availity

Availity empowers payers and providers to deliver transformative patient experiences by enabling the seamless exchange of clinical, administrative, and financial information. As the nation's largest real-time health information network, Availity develops intelligent, automated, and interoperable solutions that foster collaboration and shared value across the healthcare ecosystem. With connections to over 95% of payers, more than 3 million providers, and over 2,000 trading partners, Availity provides mission-critical connectivity to drive the future of healthcare innovation. For more information, including an online demonstration, please visit www.availity.com or call 1.800.AVAILITY (282.4548). Follow us on LinkedIn.

About Abridge

Abridge was founded in 2018 to power deeper understanding in healthcare. Abridge is now trusted by more than 200 of the largest and most complex health systems in the U.S. The enterprise-grade AI platform transforms medical conversations into clinically useful and billable documentation at the point of care, reducing administrative burden and clinician burnout while improving patient experience. With deep EHR integration, support for 28+ languages, and 50+ specialties, Abridge is used across a wide range of care settings, including outpatient, emergency department, and inpatient.

Abridge’s enterprise-grade AI platform is purpose-built for healthcare. Supported by Linked Evidence, Abridge is the only solution that maps AI-generated summaries to source data, helping clinicians quickly trust and verify the output. As a pioneer in generative AI for healthcare, Abridge is setting the industry standard for the responsible deployment of AI across health systems.

Abridge was awarded Best in KLAS 2025 for Ambient AI in addition to other accolades, including Forbes 2025 AI 50 List, TIME Best Inventions of 2024, and Fortune’s 2024 AI 50 Innovators.

Abridge and Availity Collaborate to Redefine Payer-Provider Synergy at the Point of Conversation

Abridge and Availity Collaborate to Redefine Payer-Provider Synergy at the Point of Conversation