[shankwheat]

"They [Colorado] are the healthiest state in the country by a long shot"

Vermont is healthiest state in U.S. - report | Reuters

"The Vt economy is in the bottom quartile in the US:

Unemployment Rates for States

[68vette]

Originally Posted by shankwheat

"They [Colorado] are the healthiest state in the country by a long shot"

Vermont is healthiest state in U.S. - report | Reuters

"The Vt economy is in the bottom quartile in the US:

Unemployment Rates for States

The American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention evaluates 23 factors and gives them fairly equal weight. The data is fairly accurate, but some of the data looked at like high school graduation rates have little to do with health. You have to give more weight to data like low obesity rate (Colorado has the lowest) and look at data like physical activity, because obesity is the cause of the majority of all health issues in our country. The data has shown us the impact obesity has on everything from death, costs, cancer, diabetes, etc.

The unemployment rate has little, or I should say not as much weight in determining a states financial standing in state economies. While our unemployment rate is lower than most states, the majority of the jobs in Vermont are in the service industry. That is why about 50% of the people living and working in Vermont make less than $12/hr. If you think $12/hr makes a state an economic powerhouse, you are wrong. You need to look at how much revenue a state can generate. We have a small population with a low generated income. This is why it's in the bottom quartile in the US.