What is the worst US state to live in generally?

I’m aware that, at the moment, Florida is deemed unsafe for people to travel to, but what is generally the worst state to live in? Factors such as education, religious extremism, crime, cost of food, healthcare, and access to other resources are relevant. Will “Deep South” states remain one of the worst places to live in due to traditionalism, or are more progressive states bound to grow worse?

PeckerBrown,

Yes.

Noodle07,

The worst US state to live in is the state of poverty

Samanthastanky,

Listening to the Mothman episodes of Last Podcast on the Left made me pretty scared of West Virginia.

AphoticDev,
@AphoticDev@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Idk why people are downvoting you, Aplalachia is one of the poorest regions in the United States, where there is little opportunity and a real lack of quality education. On top of that, drugs have ravaged the area, and the people are clinging desperately to a coal industry that is vanishing at a steady rate. Instead of looking for an alternative industry to boost their economy, the people there have doubled down, making some of the villages there literal ghost towns.

Its a shame too, because they have a beautiful country and a growing tourism industry that wants to take advantage of that. They need to lean real hard into the hospitality side so they can jumpstart their economy.

Etterra,

IIRC Louisiana is at the bottom of most lists in the US for all kinds of factors, including financial. Florida (of course) and Texas are in a race to the bottom, each having a horrible ghoul of a Governor and an insane, FAR right government that leans so hard on its culture war that you’d think it had a stilt on just the other foot. California has two urban centers with a cost of living so damn high that you need a 30 year mortgage for a tent in ditch.

Here in my home of Illinois, taxes were jacked up to fix a budget so corruptly mismanaged that the State was so broke that it broke broke, and where there’s an even chance that any given governor from the last 50 years was convicted of a felony. And my home city of Chicago has a police union so crooked and powerful that they’re basically the government, and the mistreatment of the poor has kicked murder rates up to record levels. Again. At least our food is awesome though - suck it NYC.

Oh and New York sucks for poorly defined (by us Chicagoans) reasons, but especially their Pizza, and all their sports teams.

Desistance,

I live in Louisiana, can confirm. Median income is less than 50k a year. The legislature doesn’t really want to fix anything or tax big business. The parishes relies on federal dollars to move the needle because they can’t get much of anything out of the state and local tax dollars only go so far. The state is now losing 20k people a year since 2020.

revelrous,

Ya’ll do make a lovely casserole.

Coskii, (edited )
@Coskii@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

As someone who has lived in 4 (forgot Rhode Island) 5 different states, and two very different areas of California, the worst by my metrics was Hawaii.

Yes, it has lovely weather, yes, it is a great place to visit… That does not make it a lovely place to live. Once you’ve done all the touristy things, you have to deal with the day to day. Prices are just higher for everything. It all has to come from somewhere, and it’s in the middle of the ocean.

LovinNY,

I heard property tax is super cheap though

HessiaNerd,

I went to jr highschool in Hilo. Coming from Northern California it was a bit of a culture shock. The pigeon, the fact thay I was a haolie… Definitely not easy. I’ve spent time on a couple of the islands, including molakai and unless you want your life to be that island life, I wouldn’t recommend it.

thrawn,

I hear housing is extremely expensive as well. Plus the roaches are… plentiful

Coskii,
@Coskii@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Roaches are one thing. The large centipedes are something else entirely.

YaaAsantewaa,

Might as well ask people what the best topping on pizza is, it’s entirely subjective

Also the majority of black people live in the South, wonder why you all hate the South so much because to me that just screams of systemic racism

cbass,
@cbass@lemmy.world avatar

I hate the south because of all the southerners, I’m just xenophobic not racist

scottywh,

It’s so rare when people openly admit to being shitty people.

Thanks.

cbass,
@cbass@lemmy.world avatar

Sorry you live in the worst region in the country, oh and that it’s because of the people 🤷

scottywh,

I’m sorry that you’re a dumbass.

It’s clearly outside your control (just like the location people were born is outside of theirs… Where I also don’t fucking live you presumptive judgemental goddamn asshole).

YaaAsantewaa,

You literally are racist

cbass,
@cbass@lemmy.world avatar

Incorrect use of the word literally and racist. I told you I’m just xenophobic (against southerners and the south.)

scottywh,

Yes yes… Only just a simpleminded stupid dumbfuck… So much better

scottywh,

Whoever upvoted you is literally at least as stupid as you and it’s fucking sad.

YaaAsantewaa,

56% of black people in America are living in the South, so when you people constantly crap on the South I’m more than certain, almost POSITIVE you’re talking about black counties and towns, you’re just trying to be sneaky about not saying the quite part out loud and avoiding it at all costs.

I’m also willing to bet you think places that are majority white are the best places to live too, as that’s usually the other part of the equation. I’ve been around long enough to know what white flight is

scottywh,

That person is mainly just a piece of shit… We have no evidence at this point really to determine whether or not they’re racist.

scottywh,

Oh wait… You’re courting the love of the /r/fatpeoplehate crowd… Pieces of shit definitely gravitate towards each other so it’s starting to make more sense

scottywh,

@cbass sure is a piece of shit it seems

Keep an eye on that one y’all

;)

Smokeydope,
@Smokeydope@lemmy.world avatar

It honestly depends on who you are. If you hate guns you don’t want to live in a pro gun state or vice versa. If you love pot then you will hate anti pot states and vice versa. If you hate corruption don’t go to new York. If you hate reduculous cost of living don’t live in new England area or the west coast popular states like Cali. If you want to boondocks and live a nomadic lifestyle the Midwest is much more forgiving to the lifestyle, east coast is much harder. So take an inventory of your personal political identity and what your dream state would look like condusive to your beliefs and lifestyle.

Widowmaker_Best_Girl,

The news about Florida exaggerates life here. It’s not at all like you see in the headlines or whatever the “Floridaman” posts you always see. Life is fine. There’s good and bad. Painting it as some “DO NOT ENTER - UNSAFE TERRORIST ZONE” is utter bullshit.

That being said, it would be great if New Yorkers and New Jerseyites fucked off back to their states and stopped buying all the properties here.

scarabic,

Are you LGBT?

averyfalken,

Yeah but when being trans may mewb tiyr kids will get taken from you its a do not enter state for you

Pratai,

Tell that to anyone in the LGBTQ+. Or anyone seeking an abortion. Or any child wanting to learn about systemic racism. Or anyone openly admitting to being atheist in school. Or anyone refusing to recite the pledge of allegiance.

The news about Florida is SPOT-FUCKING-ON, and is why we move from there six years ago to find a better life.

scottywh,

Their “sunshine law” really drastically affect people’s perceptions of Florida.

synae,
@synae@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

Traditional floridaman posts as a result of the sunshine law were offbeat, wierd, and humorous.

It’s the modern “Governor Floridaman” news that are truly worrying to the sane parts of the country, and that’s got nothing to do with the sunshine laws (except insofar as he is trying to circumvent and subvert them to consolidate his power further)

prole,

Pretty privileged thing to say… Maybe when you and I are the ones they start creating laws against existing, then it’ll actually be bad?

Kage520,

Disagree. It’s not just the laws, but the public support that has me crazy here. My very Catholic coworker so fully supports the governor that when the Catholic Church came out against some of his stances, she said they were the ones in the wrong! Those stances being that it should not be illegal to give a ride to an immigrant as thats just being a good neighbor, and it’s silly to expand the death penalty. Her daughter works for Disney too. She doesn’t care. Guy could come in and take a shit on the floor and she would try to explain how that was the most moral thing he could do, and how refreshing it is to have a sensible governor.

Her views are not abnormal here.

hungryphrog,

Ah, nothing’s more Catholic than placing some dumbass governor above the Pope.

Pixel,

I think it is a completely personal choice, and that’s what’s so great about it

madcaesar,
yewler,

Can unfortunately confirm

Papergeist,

My wife is born and raised in Texas. She thinks churches on every corner is normal. Now she is a travelling surgical tech and falling in love with upstate NY. It’s not my beloved Pacific Northwest, but I will gladly move anywhere away from these loco church people.

hesusingthespiritbomb,

That’s a great anecdote, but your wife is in the minority. Statistically speaking, Texas enjoys high rates of inflows in terms of domestic migration while upstate NY suffers pretty big outflows.

revelrous,

For peace of mind just avoid Stefanik’s district, some people call it Cantucky for a reason. 🥲.

squidzorz,
@squidzorz@lemmy.world avatar

Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas are usually at the bottom of the rankings when it comes to the metrics you mentioned, especially education. Other southern states aren’t much better.

Seeing as how modern conservatism has become nothing more than a culture war against the things that improve the general well-being of a population, yes it will continue to be that way.

RavenFellBlade,
@RavenFellBlade@lemmy.world avatar

Depends. I’m dead serious when I ask this, but are you black, Latino, a woman, queer, Jewish or Muslim, trans or non-binary, liberal or any flavor of politics to the left of Right wing authoritarian fascist, or any combination of those groups? If so, then stay the hell out of any state south of Virginia and east of Illinois. They aren’t just bad. They are potentially deadly, increasingly as a matter or literal public policy. If you aren’t one of those groups, than you aren’t in physical existential danger. You’ll just be stuck in a nightmare hellhole of poverty and ignorance. But you’ll be safe. Mostly.

Honestly, I’ve been everywhere in the continental US. Been to every state, seen just about all there is to see driving over the road for fifteen years, and I can tell you that the southeast is damn near a third world country compared to everywhere else. The infrastructure is so bad it reminds me of when I stayed in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1993. And it’s only gotten worse. I have no desire to ever return now that I’m not required to for my job. Florida used to be the one shining exception, except now it’s embracing a return to 1930s Germany. Stay out of Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas in particular.

eldavi,

add arizona to that list

YaaAsantewaa,

There’s more people of color living in all those states you hate then in any other part of the country, so your first point makes no sense

qyron,

You can dislike a place and have nothing against people living it.

Considering the mentioned locations are, boiled down, hell holes run mostly by angry white men, I’d risk the living conditions in those places is due to systemic racism and other outdated views on what a society should be.

People living in those those areas are victims and most probably poverty blocked to even consider to leave, regardless of melanin skin levels, although in the US being a shade over milk white is a detriment for having peaceful life.

Stating those places are a bad choice to live is not racism: is stating a fact.

YaaAsantewaa,

Your first point still makes no sense, it’s a contradiction

qyron,

Why can’t I state that some place is a hell hole where no one should be stuck but, nonetheless, state the people living there - or at least a good majority - are actually good people?

Considering the stain politics is for the majority of places nowadays, with the growing effort for extremists/conservatives/right wingers/religious zealots trying to roll back civilizational conquests attained in least 50 to 80 years, it’s not hard to infer that a very small group can and will make life terrible for those unaligned with their views.

So, where is the contradiction?

EsheLynn,

Why is that the metric you use, and not the policies they have? Just because plack people are too smart to live in the frigid north doesn’t mean the South is a great place to live

RavenFellBlade,
@RavenFellBlade@lemmy.world avatar

You assume that the majority of them live there by choice, and not because they lack the resources and opportunities to move. It’s kinda hard to pull up roots and move half way across the country when the economic and political realities of where you currently live force you to remain firmly entrenched in poverty with deliberately restricted access to any means to improve that situation.

By your logic, black people must love prison, too, because they represent a disproportionate percentage of the prison population. I’m sure it has nothing at all to do with disproportionate enforcement against them, right?

CoffeeDart,

Currently… Hawaii. Donate and help if you can

Kalladblog,
@Kalladblog@lemmy.world avatar

What happened?

account_93,

Fires

weremacaque,
@weremacaque@kbin.social avatar

What's become the most deadly wildfire in the United States in the past 100 years, and they still found all of the bodies. 93 people have been confirmed dead so far, but there's at least 100 people missing. They're searching with dogs through the rubble, so those numbers will probably change in the next 24 hours.

flossdaily,

Have the Midwest states been mentioned? Bill Bryson describes them as interminably dull. Not sure how they’d stack up against the deep south, though.

BrokenToY,

Dull vs Dangerous

uncle_bagel,

The Midwest states are essentially the top of the bell curve when it comes to quality of life stats. Maybe life isn’t as flashy as the coasts, but there isnt the absolutely ramoant poverty like you find in Appalachia or the deep South.

NikkiNikkiNikki,
@NikkiNikkiNikki@kbin.social avatar

Nebraska is the exception, this state has some of the weirdest price of living to wage ratios. For example, in my town you cannot find a job that pays more than minimum wage without commuting to the other towns around you. But the rent is set at a point where you would need to work for $16 to $20 an hour to afford roof AND food. Wild stuff

uncle_bagel,

That’s pretty much everywhere at this point. Minimum can’t attain the average cost of an apartment in any state in the country, since it hasn’t been rosen in over a decade. That was true before the pandemic and is doubly so now that rampant inflation has kicked in.

ryathal,

There’s a lot of corn, but there’s also a lot of good universities, and lots of beer. Not many mountains, but tons of forest and water.

profdc9,

Well, Bill Bryson might be right. But have you seen the rest of the world? Boring can be good. Be careful what you ask for.

1ird,
@1ird@notyour.rodeo avatar

I moved from Tennessee to Missouri. I like the weather in Missouri and legal weed. Other than that, they’re about the same. Missouri is way flatter. I’d like to go somewhere else but I’m poor. Thankfully I live in a relatively tame political area.

Billy_Gnosis,
@Billy_Gnosis@lemmy.world avatar

California

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