Nevada is one of the worst places to live in the country, according to a new study.
A WalletHub study that looked at multiple factors ranked Nevada 45th out of all the states, largely due to low scores in four main areas: affordability, economy, education and healthcare and safety.
Nevada’s highest ranking was 19th for overall quality of life, which looked at such things as average hours worked each week, commute time, bars per capita, performing arts centers per capita and museums per capita.
The state’s worst ranking was for the economy (45th out of 50) as Nevada has an unemployment rate well above the national average and a low level of economic security for most jobs. On top of this Nevada residents carry a higher amount of debt and credit card debt than the national average, along with the state having both high foreclosure and bankruptcy rates.
Idaho is the best place to live in the U.S., according to the study, followed by New Jersey, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Nevada was beaten only by New Mexico, which came in last, followed by Louisiana, Mississippi, Alaska and Arkansas. In the study, WalletHub outlined why Idaho was ranked so highly given it has the lowest median real estate tax rates in the country, at just 0.5 percent, along with the eighth-highest homeownership rate.
“It also has the fourth-lowest tax rates overall and the highest median household income growth, making it a great place to build and grow wealth,” continues the report. “In addition, the Gem State has the seventh-lowest share of urban interstates experiencing congestion during peak hours. This naturally leads to some of the lowest average commute times in the country. To top things off, Idaho is a pretty safe state. It has the 14th-lowest violent crime rate and the lowest property crime rate in the country.”
Another recent study, done by Consumer Affairs, ranked Nevada as the sixth worst state to move to in the country, according to similar metrics as the WalletHub study.
On top of world-class food and entertainment options, Nevada and Las Vegas in particular used to rank much higher in these seminal rankings due to a much lower cost of living for both renters and homeowners. Since the pandemic however, a housing crisis has pushed up rental rates and home prices to record-breaking levels in Southern Nevada, while job growth and wages have stagnated across multiple industries.
However, another recent annual ranking by Resonance, a research firm that focuses on city-related data and statistics, ranked Las Vegas as the seventh best city in the country, largely due to its robust entertainment sector.
Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at pblennerhassett@reviewjournal.com.
