Delaware ranks as a good place to earn a living, according to an analysis from MoneyRates.com
The company ranked all 50 states on five distinct factors: cost of living, average income, state income tax rates, unemployment, and workplace safety.
Delaware ranked eighth. The state has been seen varied rankings in various surveys.
One wild card is how the state’s relatively higher personal income tax is weighted.
Among the findings in the MoneyRates report:
The cost of living in Hawaii is about twice as high as in Mississippi.
The average employee in Massachusetts makes over 50 percent more than the average employee in Mississippi.
Several states have no tax on wage income, but in 17 states even someone making an average income can see state income tax rates of 5 percent or more.
The unemployment rate in Nevada is nearly three times as high as in Nebraska, a state with a very low cost of living.
Vermont and Maine suffer more than twice as many incidents of workplace illness, injuries, or fatalities as Louisiana. “It is a mistake to think of the US as having just one economy,” says Richard Barrington, Senior Financial Analyst for MoneyRates, a provider of news and analysis on savings and savings accounts.. “The country actually consists of many distinctly different sets of economic conditions. This makes for very different conditions for workers. If you find working conditions tough where you are, it may be well worth your while to look out of state.”
Texas ranks No. 1 for making a living, rising from second place last year. Although wages are only slightly above average in Texas, workers in Texas get good value from those wages because the cost of living in the state is below average, and there is no state income tax. The full top-10 are as follows: 1. Texas; 2. Washington; 3. Wyoming; 4. Virginia; 5. Illinois; 6. Michigan; 7. Colorado; 8. Delaware; 9. Ohio; 10. Utah. Worst states are as follows: 1. Hawaii; 2. Oregon; 3. Maine; 4. West Virginia; 5. Vermont; 6, California; 7. Montana; 8. South ‘Dakota; 9. Rhode Island; 10. Connecticut.
Full rankings and a complete methodology can be found at http://www.money-rates.com/research-center/the-best-states-for-making-a-living-2015.html
