Top 10 US states

Recently we looked at the comparative ranking of states in Australia based on cumulative street scores. Now we’re doing the same thing for the US. Lifestyle, health systems, law and order and many other social issues are regularly raised as points of difference between residents of different states.

Although StreetAdvisor is primarily interested in life at the street level, we've built the site so that it can provide useful information at suburb, city and state levels as well. When looking at all the reviews at the state level, we calculate a StateScore based on the ratings of all the suburbs and towns within each state.

Comparing the StateScores reveals a hierarchy of states in terms of their street reviews. According to StreetAdvisor community members, the top 10 US states are:

1. New Mexico (StateScore 84.16)
2. North Carolina (StateScore 79.51)
3. Oklahoma (StateScore 78.53)
4. Delaware (StateScore 78.12)
5. South Carolina (StateScore 77.74)
6. Kansas (StateScore 76.10)
7. Nevada (StateScore 75.57)
8. Colorado (StateScore 75.55)
9. Alabama (StateScore 75.42)
10. Maryland (StateScore 75.18)

What do these states have in common?

We’re not really sure, apart from the fact that they obviously have much loved communities within them.

Not population. The 10 most populated states are California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, and North Carolina.

Of the 10 most populated US states, only North Carolina features in StreetAdvisor’s top 10.

Not 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.

Only New Hampshire (rated the state with the lowest crime rate) features in our top 10, and two states rated in the 10 highest crime states also feature – South Carolina and New Mexico.

Not average household income. Only two of the top 10 states by median household income – Maryland and New Hampshire – feature in our list.

Politics. 8 out of these 10 states were red states in the 2004 Presidential election. Are Republicans happier in general and in particular as homeowners (and hence more likely to write positive reviews)? Or is this just a coincidence?

Tell us about your state

Log into StreetAdvisor.com, where you can write StateGuides that tell everyone what makes your state (as well as your street) special.