A new study based on 51 key indicators ranks Idaho and New Jersey as the best states to live in. On the flip side, New Mexico and Louisiana ranked the lowest.
Idaho is the best state to live in, according to researchers at WalletHub, due to ranking well in several key indicators like livability, housing affordability, income growth, educational attainment and hospital quality,
Why is Idaho the best state to live in?
With the eighth-highest homeownership rate and one of the lowest median real estate tax rates in the nation at just 0.5%, Idaho ranks number one overall. It is also an excellent state in which to accumulate and increase wealth because it has the highest median household income growth and the fourth-lowest total tax rate.
Furthermore, Idaho has the seventh-lowest percentage of metropolitan interstates that are congested during rush hour, resulting in some of the nation’s shortest average commute times. Finally, Idaho is a reasonably safe state, boasting the lowest rate of property crime and the 14th-lowest rate of violent crime in the nation.
The second-best state to live in, according to the study, is New Jersey. At almost $104,000, the Garden State boasts the third-highest median household income in the nation. Furthermore, New Jersey residents have the second-lowest median debt at roughly 27% of their annual income. The state also has the fifth-lowest percentage of people living in poverty and the fifth-lowest prevalence of food insecurity.
Residents of New Jersey also have the third-lowest obesity rate, the second-lowest premature death rate, and the third-best total life expectancy in the country. The state also has the sixth-most miles of trails and the fifth-most fitness centers per capita. And lastly, because it has the greatest number of law enforcement personnel per capita, New Jersey has the ninth-lowest rate of violent crime and the seventeenth-lowest rate of property crime.
Third through 10th on the list of the best states to live in are Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Wyoming, Utah, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Florida.
The 10 worst states to live in, according to the study
Last on the list is New Mexico. The Land of Enchantment is apparently anything but, as it scored in the bottom half on the economy, education, health, and quality-of-life metrics. It also ranked just 25th in affordability. Louisiana ranked 49th, largely due to its dead-last score in the economy metric and ranking 48th in education and health.
The rest of the bottom 10 were Mississippi in 48th, Alaska in 47th, then Arkansas, Nevada, Oklahoma, West Virginia (despite ranking first in affordability), Oregon, and Kentucky.