The rankings for 2021 come from Bankrate, a firm that offers financial calculators for estimations of mortgage payments, budget management and retirement plans. For its study, Bankrate looked at five broad categories: affordability (40 percent), wellness (20 percent), culture (15 percent), weather (15 percent) and crime (10 percent).
Some insights into the rankings and scores:
- Georgia’s ranking as the third most affordable state in the country paired with its standing as No. 4 for weather countered its mediocre scores for culture (No. 41), wellness (No. 32) and crime (No. 29).
- The Bankrate team notes that Florida finished so close to Georgia in its ranking “that the results were nearly a draw.”
- Tennessee is ranked the most affordable state in the U.S., and Hawaii is the least affordable.
- Massachusetts is the top state in the country for wellness, and Mississippi has the lowest ranking for this domain.
- Massachusetts’ rankings for wellness (No. 1), weather (No. 6) and culture (No. 12) countered its affordability rank (No. 42) to put it at No. 5 overall.
- Although Maryland was ranked the No. 4 state in the nation for wellness, it fell to No. 47 for affordability, No. 39 for culture and No. 36 for weather.
Below are the top 15 states and bottom 15 states. This listing includes ties. The complete ranking and scoring can be found here.
The best
1. Georgia
2. Florida
3. Tennessee
4. Missouri
5. Massachusetts
6. Wyoming
7. Arizona
8. Ohio
9. Indiana
10. Kentucky
11. North Carolina
12. West Virginia
13. South Dakota
14. Wisconsin
15. Utah
The worst
36. Iowa
37. California
38. Illinois
38. Louisiana
40. Washington
41. Connecticut
41. Idaho
43. Alabama
44. Arkansas
44. Maine
46. Alaska
47. Montana
48. Kansas
49. Minnesota
50. Maryland
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