Washington state has been rated as no longer a good place to live in the United States overall.
Seattle nicknamed the “Emerald City,” and Washington, nicknamed the “Evergreen State,” have long been considered livable nationwide. While rankings fluctuate frequently depending on the rating agency and criteria, Seattle generally ranks highly when surveyed at the city level.
However, Washington state has recently been trending down.
Personal finance website WalletHub ranked all 50 states in five categories, categorized into 51 categories, including housing costs, income, education, and healthcare, and ranked them 36th overall, with a score of 49.17 out of 100. This represents a drop from last year’s 35th place ranking in the same survey. Washington, which ranked around 17th four to five years ago, has been steadily slipping from the middle to the bottom.
Washington State received relatively good ratings, ranking 10th in economic environment, 14th in education and healthcare, and 8th in quality of life. However, it ranked last in safety, 50th, and 36th in purchasing power due to high prices, dragging down its overall ranking. It’s 36th place ranking in purchasing power indicates that housing costs are skyrocketing, making it a burden. Its last place ranking in safety, 50th, is not easily understood, but is likely due to a steady rise in crime.
Among the five Northwestern states, Idaho ranked second overall with a score of 60.19 out of 100, emerging as the best place to live in the United States. Montana ranked 15th, and Oregon ranked 39th. Oregon also received a nationally poor rating for livability. Alaska ranked 44th in safety, 50th in quality of life, 43rd in affordability (including housing costs), and 36th in education and healthcare, placing it at the bottom at 46th.Massachusetts was the most livable state in the U.S. overall, followed by Florida, Idaho, New Jersey, Wisconsin, and Minnesota in second through fifth place.
Conversely, New Mexico was rated the least livable state in the country, with Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alaska rounding out the bottom-ranked groups.