Best Places to Make a Living

I like to start with the positive. The best places to make a living has just been posted at money-rates.com It is an interesting read.

To summarize I l submit the best and the worst states to make a living.

Note that New Mexico, know for its vacation, retirement & second home communities,  ranks #39 out of all 50 states.

The 10 best states for working

With the economy still sputtering, millions of Americans are looking for better jobs. If you are one of those people, here are some places you might want to look:

1. Washington. Washington repeats as the best state for all-round employment conditions, and it held the No. 2 spot in the two years before that. Washington’s strengths include one of the highest average incomes in the nation, no state income tax and workplace conditions that ranked in the top 10 in the Gallup-Healthways survey. The state’s unemployment rate and cost of living are above average, but only slightly, so this is not enough to undermine its positives.
2. Texas. Another state with no income tax, Texas moves up from the No. 4 position last year. While the typical income in Texas is only about average, the state benefits from a cost of living and unemployment rate that are both lower than average. Employees in the state indicate that workplace conditions are good enough to rank in the top 10 nationally.
3. Minnesota. This state moved up three slots from sixth last year, largely on the strength of a very low unemployment rate and excellent workplace conditions. The state does have a higher-than-average cost of living and tax burden, but incomes in the state are more than enough to make up for these disadvantages.
4. Colorado. The greatest strength Colorado has going for it is a high average income level in a state where the cost of living is about typical of the nation as a whole. Workplace conditions are considered decent, and unemployment is about average. The only clear negative is a state tax burden that is higher than the national norm.
5. Utah. Like the other states in the top five, Utah repeats a top-10 showing from last year, and this time around it moved up three slots from eighth. Cost of living and unemployment in the state are very low, and workplace conditions are above average. Slightly below-average incomes and above-average tax burdens hold take-home pay down a bit though.
6. North Dakota. Surging up from 17th, North Dakota benefits tremendously from the nation’s lowest unemployment rate, and employees gave the state’s workplace conditions the highest rating of any state. Taxes are also very low, which is good because the average income is a little below par.
7. Virginia. Despite slipping from the No. 4 ranking last year, Virginia deserves recognition for making the top 10 in all four years of this study. Virginia benefits from high incomes, a moderate cost of living and low unemployment. However, the typical tax burden is heavier than average, and employees in Virginia rated workplace conditions a little below the norm.
8. Nevada. As a state that suffered terribly from the economic downturn, Nevada showed resilience by climbing 10 places in the rankings this year. The unemployment rate, though still a problem, has fallen by more than 5 percentage points over the past four years, and employees give the state’s workplace conditions high marks. Incomes are a little below par, but between no state income taxes and a low cost of living, Nevadans come out ahead.
9. Oklahoma. Up one place from last year, Oklahoma’s virtues include a low cost of living, low unemployment and excellent workplace conditions. These help make up for a relatively low average income.
10. Nebraska. Yet another repeat from last year’s top 10, Nebraska earned high honors again, thanks primarily to one of the lowest unemployment rates in the U.S. The cost of living is also very reasonable, and its workplace conditions earned an above-average ranking.

The 10 worst states are led by Hawaii, which has held its place for all four years the study has been conducted, followed by New York, which features the same high cost of living and also has its high wages negated by a similarly high state income tax.

Here are all 50 U.S. states as ranked by their working conditions in the 2014 MoneyRates.com analysis:

The 10 worst states to make a living are:

1. Hawaii
2. New York
3. Mississippi
4. Rhode Island
5. Connecticut
6. Alaska
7. Alabama
8. Arkansas
9. New Jersey
10. South Carolina