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Top 10 (not in order):
Hawaii
Washington
Oregon
California
Colorado
Minnesota
Maine
Massachusetts
New York
Florida
Bottom 10 (not in order):
Nevada
Oklahoma
Missouri
Arkansas
Louisiana
Missisippi
Alabama
South Carolina
West Virginia
Michigan
not sure where you got this, but some of lowest unemployment rates are in those bottom ten states. I love living in the Ozarks on acreage near forested lakes and streams, over the urban mania of California. the COL is about 40% of that of Ca.
not sure where you got this, but some of lowest unemployment rates are in those bottom ten states. I love living in the Ozarks on acreage near forested lakes and streams, over the urban mania of California. the COL is about 40% of that of Ca.
Few good paying jobs in the Ozarks, poor educational attainment, and widespread drug use are big reasons why I wouldn't rate the area highly. Good place for retirees that don't need employment, though.
I have met more people FROM New York than from any other state who left due to the high overall cost of living there. Those rumored higher wages do not exist in most of New York State.
Yes, many that leave NY from Upstate as they get the high levels of taxation but far less to show for it because NYC has most of the population, politicians, and power. Upstate will never truly improve unless NY splits into two states.
I prefer Texas but I also like Arizona as far as quality of life goes.Thats just me.YMMV.I respect everyone's opinion but I could not live in the northern tier of the country due to the climate.I also like New Mexico but I know that it one of the nation's worst ranked states.City data encourages posting in old threads.
-WT
Great thread, but I knew we would be all over the place with this one. For me, buying power is very important and many of the states some rave about have horrible bang for the buck. That affects so many other areas of QOL. Too, QOL is interpreted differently from person to person and each category carries weight (and NO state is perfect). But for me (in no particular order), it would be NC, VA, FL, TN, PA, Upstate NY, MN, TX, UT.
No one can truly answer this question because no one lives in a state.
They live in city neighborhoods or small towns or suburbs or off the grid, and any states can have a multitude of all of those, each with different qualities of afforadbility, job opportunities, cultural opportunities, weather, safety, etc. And for most people some of those factors will be more important than others. So I don't think you can generalize about overall, general QOL on a state by state basis. You can be live in a wretched slum in any state of the union and a wealthy cul-de-sac in any state of the union. But you're not living in the whole state, just a piece of it. Which is why its really impossible to compare whole state on QOL.
You're simplifying it. Some people only live in a town their who lives, or a single town in a single state. I within one year of living in Texas have lived in 4 different towns, 3 in the west-central part and 1 in the north-central part. Then there's people who have lived in Houston, in Austin, in Dallas etc. A lot of people move within their state and most people travel within it.
Even in different parts of a state though, you're still subject to things like the decisions made by politicians, the way taxes are handled, the way roads are, the way crime is handled, the cleanliness of the air etc.
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