Here’s how Americans rank the 50 states

[China]

Report: Indiana among least patriotic states in America

 

Indiana has ranked near the bottom of a list of the most patriotic states in America.

 

Personal-finance website WalletHub released its report on 2022’s Most Patriotic States in America, and Indiana ranked No. 44 out of the 50 U.S. states. The Hoosier state ranked 40th in civic engagement, and 35th in military engagement, leading to a total score of 34.43, according to WalletHub.

 

According to the report, the three most patriotic states were Alaska, Montana and Virginia. Arkansas was the least patriotic state, just below New York and Rhode Island in the rankings.

 

According to a press release, WalletHub compared the 50 states across “13 key indicators of patriotism to determine where Americans have the most red, white and blue pride.” The data set ranges from the state’s military enlistees and veterans to the share of adults who voted in the 2020 presidential election to AmeriCorps volunteers per capita. 

 

Some key statistics from the report include the following:

• Blue states are more patriotic, with an average ranking of 24.92, compared with 26.08 for red states (1 = Best).
• Alaska has the most veterans per 1,000 civilian adults, 137, which is 2.7 times more than in New York, the state with the fewest at 51.
• New Jersey has the highest share of adults who voted in the 2020 presidential election, 78.3 percent, which is 1.5 times higher than in Arkansas, the state with the lowest at 54 percent. 
• Utah has the highest volunteer rate, 51.2 percent, which is two times higher than in New York, the state with the lowest at 25 percent.

 

Click on the link for more

[China]

The No. 1 city in the world to travel and work remotely is in the US—and it isn't New York or LA

 

Americans don't need a passport to get to the No. 1 global city to take a working vacation.

 

Kansas City, Missouri, was named the best city in the world to work during the day and explore after hours without having to use too much of your PTO time, according to a recent analysis from Icelandair.

 

Kansas City — known for its barbecue, jazz scene and for having more fountains than Rome — is home to attractions including The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kauffman Stadium, Worlds of Fun and a bustling downtown. It comes out on top of 115 global cities in the ranking, which were chosen because of their prominence in the tourist industry and availability of "slow" travel options.

 

Tourist attractions aside, the Icelandair ranking considers metrics that paint a picture of each city's quality of life (like cost of living, safety, health-care access), how easy it is to work there (internet speed, average working hours, commute time), environmental factors (climate index, noise and light pollution, air quality) and data from the United Nations' World Happiness Report.

 

Here are the top 10 best global cities to take a working vacation, according to Icelandair.

 

1. Kansas City, United States
2. Vienna, Austria
3. Wellington, New Zealand
4. Copenhagen, Denmark
5. Edinburgh, United Kingdom
6. Victoria, Canada
7. Perth, Australia
8. Frankfurt, Germany
9. Brisbane, Australia
10. Helsinki, Finland

Click on the link for the full article

 

Oh, and "working vacation" is an oxymoron.

[TradeTheBeal!]

I just got back from a “working vacation” in Jupiter, FL and I’m a little bit skeptical about this Kansas City foolishness.

 

Sign me up for Copenhagen tho!

[Captain Wiggles]

Quote

Kansas City — known for its barbecue, jazz scene and for having more fountains than Rome

 

🙃

 

[China]

The Minimum Salary You Need To Be Happy in Every State

 

Can money buy happiness? According to a recent Purdue study published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, income can correlate with emotional well-being and life satisfaction.

 

“Globally, we find that satiation occurs at $95,000 for life evaluation and $60,000 to $75,000 for emotional well-being,” said the study’s authors in the journal. However, the study also found that the ideal income for life satisfaction in North America is $105,000, as reported by Inc.

 

To estimate how much money you might need to be satisfied or happy in every U.S. state, GOBankingRates factored in each state’s cost-of-living index and used the $105,000 figure as the “benchmark.” The states were ranked from least to most amount of money needed to be happy. GOBankingRates also included unemployment and crime rates for many states for informational purposes.

 

It’s important to keep in mind, though, that “happiness” is subjective. The cost to live comfortably can vary from person to person. Keep reading to find out how much it takes to be happy in your state.

 

Mississippi
Minimum salary needed to be happy: $87,465
If you love living in Mississippi, lucky you! The state’s low cost of living means you can stretch your paycheck that much farther. And while nearly $90,000 is a lot more than most Mississippians earn in a year, the range the study sets for “emotional well-being” goes as low as about $50,000 a year in the birthplace of the blues.

 

.....

 

West Virginia
Minimum salary needed to be happy: $95,025
While the unemployment rate in West Virginians is at 3.7%, the state does have an especially low rate of property crime going for it. There are just over 13.92 a year for every 1,000 residents.

.....

 

Virginia
Minimum salary needed to be happy: $106,890
Virginia boasts the sixth-lowest violent crime rate in the country, and the relative peace of mind that can come with a firm sense of safety is hard to put a price on. However, in terms of the cost of living alone, the state is among the costlier of the rest of the country.

.....

 

Maryland
Minimum salary needed to be happy: $130,200
Maryland’s unemployment rates are at 4.6% right now, especially with a cost of living $25,200 higher than the national average. But people can still find happiness here at around $74,400 annual income.

.....

 

California
Minimum salary needed to be happy: $149,310
California’s notoriously high cost of living is on display here, with just over $149,000 a year being needed to secure happiness. While California’s staggering 16.3% unemployment rate at the height of the pandemic has come down, 4.9% is still among the highest in the nation.

 

.....

 

Hawaii
Minimum salary needed to be happy: $202,965
The cost of living in Hawaii is just under double that of the rest of the country, making it especially costly to be happy there. You’ll need to plan on earning over $200,000 a year to reach that state of bliss in the Aloha State, though you can settle for emotional well-being, which doesn’t seem hard to achieve here, at $115,980.

 

Click on the link for the rest

[China]

Study says Oklahoma is the worst state for women and one state senator wants to know why

 

A recent study showed Oklahoma as the worst state to live in for women in all of the United States.

 

Now, State Senator Jessica Garvin has requested a legislative study to be done that tries to tackle that problem.

 

Wallethub published the study in late February. It said that Oklahoma jumped from 47th in 2021 to 51st in 2022.

 

The study looked at poverty, voter turnout, and life expectancy, among 25 other metrics.

 

Sen. Garvin could hardly believe the results when she read them.

 

“It was just kind of confusing, but also a little crushing and disheartening,” said Garvin.

 

To make Oklahoma a top ten state for women, Garvin said there is work that needs to be done.

 

Cindy Nguyen, with ACLU of Oklahoma, said that rankings at the bottom because state lawmakers don’t put a priority on solving problems related to women.

 

“If we truly wanted to make this a top ten state for women, we have to make sure that we include the people that are most impacted by the decisions made at the Capitol and whether these women are black or brown, trans women experiencing poverty,” said Nguyen.

 

Even a second study, one done by the Oklahoma State University’s business school concluded that if the pay gap between men and women remained how it is today, it would take 52 years for pay to be equal.

 

It also noted that child care costs in Oklahoma are more than college tuition.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

These 10 states are America’s worst places to live in 2022

 

With five million more job openings in the U.S. than there are employees to fill them, workers have more leverage than they have had in years. They are using that power — and unprecedented mobility — to demand a welcoming environment and great quality of life in the places they work.

 

That is why CNBC’s annual America’s Top States for Business study pays particular attention to quality of life. Now, with workers increasingly holding the cards, it is especially important in our methodology.

 

Our Life, Health and Inclusion category considers factors such as crime rates, environmental quality, and health care. For the first time in 2022, we also consider the availability of childcare, which the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found is a major obstacle for parents seeking to reenter the workforce.

 

We also consider inclusiveness of state laws in areas like protections against discrimination and voting rights. That’s not politics, it’s business.

 

We found some states are particularly welcoming. But these ten states fall short.

10. Nevada
9. Tennessee

8. Indiana
7. New Mexico
6. Louisiana

5. Missouri

4. South Carolina

3. Oklahoma

2. Texas

1. Arizona

 

Click on the link for further detail

[JCB]

Did y’all see W. Kamau Bell’s piece on Arizona? He calls it desert Florida. 

[China]

The 7 most affordable U.S. states to retire—and none of them are Florida

 

If you want to make your money stretch after retiring, look no further than the Great Lakes state.

 

Michigan ranks as the most affordable state to retire in 2022, according to a recent Bankrate analysis. This is due to a low cost of living and light tax burden for residents.

 

To compile the overall list of best states to retire, Bankrate ranked states according to five categories: affordability; health and wellness; culture and diversity; weather; and crime.

 

To calculate affordability, Bankrate analyzed the July 2022 Cost of Living Index from the Council for Community and Economic Research and property and sales tax rates from the Tax Foundation’s 2022 rankings.

 

Here are the seven most affordable states to retire, according to Bankrate:

1. Michigan
2. Tennessee
3. Missouri
4. Mississippi
5. Kentucky
6. Oklahoma
7. Georgia

Click on the link for the full article

 

I'm sure people are rushing to retire to Mississippi, so they can live without water.

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[China]

America’s Most Dangerous States

 

Using violent crime data from the FBI’s 2021 UCR, 24/7 Wall St. identified the 15 most dangerous states in America. In each of the states on this list, the violent crime rate exceeds the national rate. We also considered the homicide rate - a component of the overall violent crime rate - in each of these states.

 

The largest share of states on this list are in the South, though there are also a handful of states in the West and Midwest. 

 

Violent crime is often more common in economically disadvantaged areas with high poverty rates and lower levels of social integration. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey shows that in the majority of the states on this list, the poverty rate exceeds the national rate of 12.8%.

 

15. Kansas
> Violent crimes per 100,000 people, 2021:345.8

> Total violent crimes, 2021:10,147 (18th lowest of 41 states)

> Murders per 100,000 people, 2021:4.8 (18th lowest of 41 states)

> Total murders, 2021:141 (16th lowest of 41 states)

> Poverty rate:11.7% (20th lowest of 41 states)

 

14. South Dakota
> Violent crimes per 100,000 people, 2021:356.6

> Total violent crimes, 2021:3,192 (7th lowest of 41 states)

> Murders per 100,000 people, 2021:3.0 (12th lowest of 41 states)

> Total murders, 2021:27 (5th lowest of 41 states)

> Poverty rate:12.3% (18th highest of 41 states)

 

----------

 

3. Alabama
> Violent crimes per 100,000 people, 2021:518.5

> Total violent crimes, 2021:26,129 (8th highest of 41 states)

> Murders per 100,000 people, 2021:12.1 (2nd highest of 41 states)

> Total murders, 2021:608 (8th highest of 41 states)

> Poverty rate:16.1% (6th highest of 41 states)

 

2. Arkansas
> Violent crimes per 100,000 people, 2021:555.7

> Total violent crimes, 2021:16,815 (15th highest of 41 states)

> Murders per 100,000 people, 2021:9.7 (4th highest of 41 states)

> Total murders, 2021:293 (17th highest of 41 states)

> Poverty rate:16.3% (5th highest of 41 states)

 

1. Louisiana
> Violent crimes per 100,000 people, 2021:564.0

> Total violent crimes, 2021:26,078 (9th highest of 41 states)

> Murders per 100,000 people, 2021:16.0 (the highest of 41 states)

> Total murders, 2021:738 (5th highest of 41 states)

> Poverty rate:19.6% (the highest of 41 states)

 

Click on the link for the full list

 

 

[China]

The United States of Cussing: Every U.S. State's Favorite Swear Word

 

In 1972, comedian George Carlin delivered a legendary monologue that pushed the boundaries of stand-up comedy and challenged the taboo on profanity. His “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television” skit was so controversial at the time that Carlin was himself arrested, and the broadcast led to a Supreme Court ruling that changed how speech was regulated on TV.

 

In society, value judgments are made about people all the time, from our physical appearance to the way we shake hands. Yet evidence suggests that these same calls are being made about those who use profanity in conversation. 

 

Whether we mean them in anger or use them casually in our everyday vocabulary, those ‘seven words’ are becoming more of a fixture in our lives. A Business Insider report found that the average American now uses 80-90 curse words per day - which works out at around five an hour. But where in the U.S. can you find people who swear more than anywhere else? Our analysts at WordTips have the answers.

 

• ‘****’ is America’s most commonly-used swear word, with 11.62 uses for every 1000 posts on Twitter.
• With 48 curse words per 1000 tweets, residents of Georgia use the most profanities of any U.S. state, with Minnesota (15 per 1000 tweets) swearing the least.
• Atlanta (56 curse words per 1000 posts) is America’s sweariest city, while Minneapolis residents (17 per 1000 posts) swear the least.
• With 15 states using ‘****’ more than any other swear word, it is the most uniquely popular profanity.

Spoiler

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Dont Taze Me Bro]

2 hours ago, China said:

The United States of Cussing: Every U.S. State's Favorite Swear Word

 

In 1972, comedian George Carlin delivered a legendary monologue that pushed the boundaries of stand-up comedy and challenged the taboo on profanity. His “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television” skit was so controversial at the time that Carlin was himself arrested, and the broadcast led to a Supreme Court ruling that changed how speech was regulated on TV.

 

In society, value judgments are made about people all the time, from our physical appearance to the way we shake hands. Yet evidence suggests that these same calls are being made about those who use profanity in conversation. 

 

Whether we mean them in anger or use them casually in our everyday vocabulary, those ‘seven words’ are becoming more of a fixture in our lives. A Business Insider report found that the average American now uses 80-90 curse words per day - which works out at around five an hour. But where in the U.S. can you find people who swear more than anywhere else? Our analysts at WordTips have the answers.

 

• ‘****’ is America’s most commonly-used swear word, with 11.62 uses for every 1000 posts on Twitter.
• With 48 curse words per 1000 tweets, residents of Georgia use the most profanities of any U.S. state, with Minnesota (15 per 1000 tweets) swearing the least.
• Atlanta (56 curse words per 1000 posts) is America’s sweariest city, while Minneapolis residents (17 per 1000 posts) swear the least.
• With 15 states using ‘****’ more than any other swear word, it is the most uniquely popular profanity.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

****, this damn map is inacurrate as ****. The **** mother****er that came up with this can rot in hell, what a dick.  Crap isn't even a curse word.

[China]

I'm a travel writer who's been to all 50 states. Here are the 7 I think are the most overrated.

 

I visited my 50th state at the age of 13, and have returned to each multiple times since.

 

Whether on trips with friends and family or in my career as a travel writer (or both), I've had memories and adventures all across the US.

 

And though I firmly maintain that there is no bad state to visit, I do believe that there are some states that get an exorbitant amount of hype they may not totally deserve, and I'm willing to name names.

 

Keep in mind that inclusion on this list means that your state has a reputation as a very cool place to visit — something other states, including my own beloved native New Jersey, would envy.

 

And since travel is ultimately subjective I reserve the right to fall in and out of love with every state as I revisit each one again and again.

 

• I suggest visiting Maine's coast or Vermont's mountains before checking out New Hampshire.
• Arizona is one of the more overhyped destinations in the Southwest.
• Everyone knows about Colorado — consider visiting a lesser-appreciated state instead
• I feel like Oregon has been getting all of the publicity in the Pacific Northwest
• When visiting New England, head further north than Connecticut.
• There's more to the Midwest than Missouri.
• I'd skip Pennsylvania on a road trip up the East Coast.

Click on the link for the full article

[Captain Wiggles]

Quote

I'd skip Pennsylvania on a road trip up the East Coast.

 

And miss out on that broken bell dealy? 🤪

 

Poconos is the ok I guess. 

[dfitzo53]

8 hours ago, China said:

I'm a travel writer who's been to all 50 states. Here are the 7 I think are the most overrated.

 

I visited my 50th state at the age of 13, and have returned to each multiple times since.

 

Whether on trips with friends and family or in my career as a travel writer (or both), I've had memories and adventures all across the US.

 

And though I firmly maintain that there is no bad state to visit, I do believe that there are some states that get an exorbitant amount of hype they may not totally deserve, and I'm willing to name names.

 

Keep in mind that inclusion on this list means that your state has a reputation as a very cool place to visit — something other states, including my own beloved native New Jersey, would envy.

 

And since travel is ultimately subjective I reserve the right to fall in and out of love with every state as I revisit each one again and again.

 

• I suggest visiting Maine's coast or Vermont's mountains before checking out New Hampshire.
• Arizona is one of the more overhyped destinations in the Southwest.
• Everyone knows about Colorado — consider visiting a lesser-appreciated state instead
• I feel like Oregon has been getting all of the publicity in the Pacific Northwest
• When visiting New England, head further north than Connecticut.
• There's more to the Midwest than Missouri.
• I'd skip Pennsylvania on a road trip up the East Coast.

Click on the link for the full article

Sounds like somebody had an article due and couldn't think of what to write. 

 

"You like Colorado? You should try uh...uhhh... Wyoming and Montana too..."

[The Evil Genius]

Kind of opposite of how the GOP portrays the State.

 

 

[China]

2022’s Safest States in America

 

With every new headline about a mass shooting, terrorist attack, hate crime or natural disaster, many of us fear for our safety and that of our loved ones. In the past few years, the COVID-19 pandemic has also become one of Americans’ biggest safety concerns. Although vaccines have greatly diminished that threat in 2022, there have still been over 204,000 deaths from COVID-19 this year. To put that in perspective, that’s several times more than the number of motor vehicle deaths (21,000) and non-suicide gun-related deaths (15,200) in 2022 combined. This goes to show that how worried we feel about a threat isn’t necessarily proportional to how many people it affects.

 

Certain states keep their residents safer than others. In order to determine the safest states in America, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 53 key safety indicators grouped into five different categories. Our data set ranges from the percentage of residents who are fully vaccinated to assaults per capita and the unemployment rate.

 

1    Vermont   
2    Maine  
3    New Hampshire   
4    Utah   
5    Hawaii

11.  Virginia

18.  Maryland

27.  California

33.  W. Virginia

47.  Texas

50.  Louisiana

 

Click on the link for the full list

 

[China]

2 Utah cities ranked among worst to survive a dragon invasion

 

New rankings rate two Utah cities as some of the worst places to be if there was ever a dragon invasion.

 

You read that right - fire-breathing, flying, mystical dragons.

 

In August, we learned that Salt Lake City is the second-best in the country for surviving a zombie apocalypse.

 

New rankings from Shane Co. put Provo as number three for the best U.S. cities to be a dragon, meaning it's the worst for surviving a dragon attack.

 

The organization says high elevations, plenty of parkland and few aviation facilities to cloud the skies create ideal dragon conditions in Provo.

 

It also ranks Ogden as number eight for best U.S. cities to be a dragon, meaning it's in the top ten places that would be the worst spots for a dragon attack.

 

Open airspace and strong residential interest in Dragons contribute to Ogden's high ranking.

 

Click on the link for more nonsense

[Cooked Crack]

 

[The Sisko]

On 7/8/2022 at 2:49 PM, China said:

The Minimum Salary You Need To Be Happy in Every State

 

Can money buy happiness? According to a recent Purdue study published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, income can correlate with emotional well-being and life satisfaction.

 

“Globally, we find that satiation occurs at $95,000 for life evaluation and $60,000 to $75,000 for emotional well-being,” said the study’s authors in the journal. However, the study also found that the ideal income for life satisfaction in North America is $105,000, as reported by Inc.

 

To estimate how much money you might need to be satisfied or happy in every U.S. state, GOBankingRates factored in each state’s cost-of-living index and used the $105,000 figure as the “benchmark.” The states were ranked from least to most amount of money needed to be happy. GOBankingRates also included unemployment and crime rates for many states for informational purposes.

 

It’s important to keep in mind, though, that “happiness” is subjective. The cost to live comfortably can vary from person to person. Keep reading to find out how much it takes to be happy in your state.

 

Mississippi
Minimum salary needed to be happy: $87,465
If you love living in Mississippi, lucky you! The state’s low cost of living means you can stretch your paycheck that much farther. And while nearly $90,000 is a lot more than most Mississippians earn in a year, the range the study sets for “emotional well-being” goes as low as about $50,000 a year in the birthplace of the blues.

 

.....

 

West Virginia
Minimum salary needed to be happy: $95,025
While the unemployment rate in West Virginians is at 3.7%, the state does have an especially low rate of property crime going for it. There are just over 13.92 a year for every 1,000 residents.

 

Click on the link for the rest

 

I wonder if they corrected for certain variables like race, sex, and number of functional brain cells, because there's no way in hell at even ten times the salaries shown I'd be happy in Mississippi, W. Virginia, or any of the  💩hole states. I think the only way it might work is if I made an insane amount of money, bought my own town and populated it with handpicked residents.

 

On 10/23/2022 at 7:58 PM, Captain Wiggles said:

 

And miss out on that broken bell dealy? 🤪

 

Poconos is the ok I guess. 

Clearly you've never driven the PA turnpike. It's pure torture. Unless I'm flying in, whatever is in Pennsylvania had better be damn good if I'm going to visit...and yes, I know that much of the state is accessible without using the turnpike. However, it's bad enough to taint the whole state.

Edited November 21, 2022 by The Sisko

[Cooked Crack]

 

% of Obese Adults Highest     

1. West Virginia    

2. Alabama    

3. Kentucky    

4. Oklahoma    

5. Mississippi 

 

Lowest     

47. California    

48. Massachusetts    

49. Hawaii    

50. District of Columbia    

51. Colorado

 

https://wallethub.com/edu/fattest-states/16585

 

[China]

3 hours ago, Cooked Crack said:

 

% of Obese Adults Highest     

1. West Virginia    

2. Alabama    

3. Kentucky    

4. Oklahoma    

5. Mississippi 

 

Lowest     

47. California    

48. Massachusetts    

49. Hawaii    

50. District of Columbia    

51. Colorado

 

https://wallethub.com/edu/fattest-states/16585

 

 

Let's see how that correlates with poverty rates:

 

West Virginia - 4th poorest

Alabama - 7th poorest

Kentucky - 5th poorest

Oklahoma - 9th poorest

Mississippi - 1st poorest

 

Link

 

[Captain Wiggles]

3 hours ago, The Sisko said:

Clearly you've never driven the PA turnpike. It's pure torture. 

 

Got stuck on the PA turnpike as a kid. My mom's car dropped its transmission. Good times indeed.  🤣

[China]

Study finds Boston to be among the loneliest cities in the US

 

One may be the loneliest number, but new data shows Boston to be one of the loneliest cities in the United States.

 

Through a U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, researchers with Chamber of Commerce determined which cities are the loneliest places to live based on household size.

 

“Our analysis looked at the number of one-person households in each city as well as the number of males and females living in one-person households,” researchers said, according to Boston 25 News. “To determine the average yearly increase, we analyzed 2016-2021 one-person household data.”

 

Researchers looked at 170 cities with a population of at least 150,000. Washington, D.C., ranked at the top spot with 48.2% of households occupied by one person with a total of 154,140 residents. St. Louis and Arlington, Virginia, followed.

 

Click on the link for the full article