Wisconsin is a great state to live in by most accounts (I still remember the polar vortex day), and when you compare our home with other states around the country, we look pretty darn good compared to the rest of the nation, too.
WalletHub just ranked the Top U.S. States To Live In for 2019, and Wisconsin placed 6th out of 50, sandwiched between Colorado (#5) and Viriginia (#7).
The personal finance website used 51 key indicators of livability that were aggregated into five main categories: Quality of Life, Affordability, Economy, Education & Health, and Safety. Some indicators included unemployment and underemployment rates, median annual property taxes, the wealth gap, entrepreneurial activity, school systems, obesity levels, average commute times, bars and museums per capita, and crime rates.
Yes, weather was considered as a "quality of life" factor. Our nice summers and falls and relative lack of destructive weather actually meant Wisconsin cities ranked more in the middle, despite our long and sometimes brutal winters.
The best state to live in, according to WalletHub's findings, is Massachusetts. The worst? Mississippi.
No big surprises there, those two states always tend to rank high and low, respectively, in any state rankings.
Some other interesting findings: Minnesota ranked 2nd, which means Super Bowl championships weren't considered in the methodology (I gotta dig on the Vikings wherever I can), Despite its reputation, New Jersey ranked 4th. Our neighbor to the south, Illinois, placed 21st. Texas, a state people are flocking to, ranked 36th; Arizona, another state people are flocking to, ranked 38th. The bottom five states are all in the Deep South, save one: New Mexico, which ranked particularly low on education, poverty, and crime factors. The District of Columbia, which holds Washington DC and gets 3 electoral votes in federal elections, wasn't included in the rankings.
How would YOU rank Wisconsin among the 50 states? Do you agree with 6th, or would you place it higher or lower?