U.S. News says we're number 1 (Boston, Worcester: low income, sales, 2014)

[bostonguy1960]

Originally Posted by tysmith95

Will anyone acutally choose a state to live in based on what us news and world report says.

You'd be surprised.

Some are too lazy or don't know to get decent feedback here.

[Dm84]

Originally Posted by bostonguy1960

You'd be surprised.

Some are too lazy or don't know to get decent feedback here.

Soon this forum will be flooded with posts from people looking for a 3,000 Sq ft house with good schools for $300k and property taxes of $3k/year.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by Vanderbiltgrad

US News and World Report the same rag that publishes the college rankings, it is all subjective and useless. This is the same rag that ranked Princeton better than Harvard for prestige, nobody looks at those rankings and does not laugh.

More than a few people at Harvard agree with that one.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by Dm84

Soon this forum will be flooded with posts from people looking for a 3,000 Sq ft house with good schools for $300k and property taxes of $3k/year.

How's that different from any other day here?

[G1..]

Originally Posted by Vanderbiltgrad

US News and World Report the same rag that publishes the college rankings, it is all subjective and useless. This is the same rag that ranked Princeton better than Harvard for prestige, nobody looks at those rankings and does not laugh.

Many people agree with that.You must remember the USA is much bigger than the 60 miles around Boston.

[tysmith95]

I think the biggest downside of the us news survey was that it ignored cost of living. If that was factored in NH would probably be ahead of Mass in the survey.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by tysmith95

I think the biggest downside of the us news survey was that it ignored cost of living. If that was factored in NH would probably be ahead of Mass in the survey.

Not in their dreams.

[Boston_Burbs]

Originally Posted by tysmith95

I think the biggest downside of the us news survey was that it ignored cost of living. If that was factored in NH would probably be ahead of Mass in the survey.

Where do the high paying NH residents work? Mostly in Massachusetts.

[MrLinderman]

Originally Posted by Dm84

Soon this forum will be flooded with posts from people looking for a 3,000 Sq ft house with good schools for $300k and property taxes of $3k/year.

You forgot that it needs to be close to a "cute, walkable town center" and within a 6 minute commute to Boston.

[nhkev]

In the last week I have read different lists. Best states ranked, best states to live, happiest states, best states to retire. Most of the time these lists are for entertainment purposes and get readers to click on the article to see where their state ranks. If it gives you some form of appreciation for your state then great. It all comes down to what they use for criteria in the rankings and what "you" as an individual place on importance.
If I was looking for a place to live I would review these lists and see what they say about high ranking (and low ranking). I have lived in quite a few states (grew up and spent the most time in Massachusetts.)
There is no doubt that Massachusetts has a huge emphasis on education, it always ranks 1st or 2nd. The metrics that are important to me is high school graduation rate, percentage of students that go onto a 4 year college, and scores of national college exams.
Mass is always near the top in average income and low unemployment rates.
Mass is extremely low crime. to give you an example the last data I saw on murders , Massachusetts had around 130 murders annually, most Midwest cities have more than the entire state of Mass. And how can anybody compare to New England sports teams in the last decade


However if the did a rankings based on tax burdens, access to state parks, weather, affordability of housing , diversity, traffic, conservative views, I would guess Massachusetts would rank very low. so it is more of what you value and finding somewhere in the country that matches what you are looking for.