10 worst US states

StreetAdvisor.com recently published a list of the Top 10 US states as voted by our community members. Now it's time to look at the other end of the list - the worst 10 US states to live in according to reviews of their streets.

Firstly, we have to eliminate Montana and Wyoming. No one in these states has written street reviews! Even Alaska has been reviewed. I hear they have color television in Montana and Wyoming already, so maybe the interweb will follow soon.

Here is the list:

1. Hawaii (StateScore 57.96)
2. Louisiana (StateScore 58.78)
3. Idaho (StateScore  59.96)
4. Nebraska (StateScore  63.56)
5. New York (StateScore 64.59)
6. West Virginia (StateScore 64.76)
7. Arkansas (StateScore 65.01)
8. Wisconsin (StateScore 66.39)
9. Maine (StateScore 66.40)
10. Arizona (StateScore 67.11)

What do these states have in common?

As with the Top 10 US states, the answer is not obvious.

Crime? The 10 states with the lowest crime are New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Maine, New York, West Virginia, Kentucky, New Jersey and Wisconsin. Hawaii has the 5th highest crime rating.

Wisconsin, Maine, West Virginia and New York are low crime states, so it makes sense that on this factor they are good states to live in.

Population? The 10 most populated states are California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, and North Carolina.

Only New York is one of the ten most populated states, and Hawaii is one of the least populated states.

Average household income? Reading a list of the top 10 states by median household income does not help here – Hawaii has a high median income but many residents who rate their streets poorly.

Politics? 6 out of these 10 states were red states in the 2004 Presidential election. Compared to the Top 10 US states, where 8 out of 10 were red states, this suggests that more blue states means more unhappy people.

This seems to add further evidence to the hypothesis that Republicans are happier in general and in particular as homeowners (and hence more likely to write positive reviews).

We don't take sides; we simply report on the reviews that our community members write. For Hawaii, it seems that a relatively low population and high median incomes does not make people happy when it is combined with a high crime rate.

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