Why Washington is the best state in America

May 20, 2019 8:30 am
Seattle is the focal point of most of the growth and promise of Washington. With its mix of neighborhoods, skilled workers, universities and growth oriented companies, the future looks even brighter. Photo: Morf Morford
Seattle is the focal point of most of the growth and promise of Washington. With its mix of neighborhoods, skilled workers, universities and growth oriented companies, the future looks even brighter. Photo: Morf Morford

By Morf Morford
Tacoma Daily Index

It happened again – someone let the news out that Washington is a great place to live.

I am only a little bit biased –  but U.S. News & World Report is a bit more objective, and according to their research from solid economic current and leading indicators, Washington is both the most fertile and the most promising environment for growth and economic stability.

This study analyzed a range of basic and measurable criteria, including education, health care, crime, infrastructure and the economy.

Yes, we complain about taxes and the state of our infrastructure (especially potholes and many of our bridges), but unlike many states, we have the skill base and resources to take care of these.

By any criteria – opportunity, recreation or even the weather – especially when you put them all together, Washington is the place to be.

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from the Washington Governor’s Office:

U.S. News and World Report: Why Washington is the best state in America

Washington is the best state in the country, according to the third annual 2019 Best States rankings from U.S. News & World Report. The publication evaluated all 50 states across a range of criteria, including education, health care, infrastructure and the economy. The report emphasized Washington’s thriving technology sector as well as the state’s aggressive efforts to promote clean, affordable energy.

“Washington state is an example of how climate action and a strong economy go hand in hand,” Gov. Jay Inslee said. “We are as confident as ever about our efforts to speed up the transition to clean energy.”

To obtain the top ranking, Washington ranked high in a number of areas including infrastructure, the economy and education. In previous years, Washington has consistently placed in the top 10 in state rankings. Last year, Washington ranked sixth, and it ranked fifth in 2017.

Washington also appears regularly at the top of favorable rankings from other organizations, especially those related to economic opportunity.

Last year, CNBC named Washington the Top State for Business, WalletHub listed Washington as the state with the best economy, and Oxfam, an organization that aims to end poverty, also gave high marks to Washington state for being the best state for workers.

“These rankings show Washington’s success on a variety of different levels, to be the number one state in the country, and also ranked both the best economy and the best place for workers is incredible, yet unsurprising,” Inslee said. “This is an exceptional place to live, work, raise a family and open a business. And we are working hard to make sure all Washingtonians have an opportunity to benefit from our growth and success.”

This year, U.S. News & World Report streamlined the methodology to reflect more objective, transparent and comparable data across the framework. The rankings are based on more than 70 metrics and tens of thousands of data points.

Adding to a set of annual surveys that determine the weights of the eight categories, U.S. News conducted a survey asking more than 23,000 people across the country to provide levels of satisfaction with government services and to prioritize where state governments should focus resources.

Seattle is the focal point of most of the growth and promise of Washington. With its mix of neighborhoods, skilled workers, universities and growth oriented companies, the future looks even brighter. Photo: Morf Morford
Seattle is the focal point of most of the growth and promise of Washington. With its mix of neighborhoods, skilled workers, universities and growth oriented companies, the future looks even brighter. Photo: Morf Morford

Washington state’s 2019 legislative session ended recently with Inslee and legislative leaders celebrating significant victories related to climate change and 100 percent clean energy, free college, healthcare, jobs and criminal justice reform.

The legislative session resulted in many firsts for the state including bills to create the first-in-the nation public health care option and one to create a long-term care benefit, the first university teaching hospital for behavioral health and the strongest clean energy law in the country.

Read more about U.S. News & World Report’s rankings: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states.

– WA Governor’s Office

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from WalletHub:

Best & Worst Places to Start a Career

With graduation season upon us and employers planning to hire nearly 17 percent more graduates from the Class of 2019 than they did from the Class of 2018, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2019’s Best & Worst Places to Start a Career as well as accompanying videos.

To help recent graduates launch their careers in the right place, WalletHub compared more than 180 U.S. cities based on 29 key indicators of career-friendliness. The data set ranges from availability of entry-level jobs to monthly average starting salary to housing affordability.

Best Places to Start a Career Worst Places to Start a Career

1 Salt Lake City, UT     173   Jackson, MS

2 Pittsburgh, PA     174   Newport News, VA

3 Atlanta, GA           175   Toledo, OH

4 Orlando, FL          176   New Haven, CT

5 Austin, TX            177    Pearl City, HI

6 Minneapolis, MN     178    Oxnard, CA

7 Seattle, WA          179   Bridgeport, CT

8 Raleigh, NC          180   Hialeah, FL

9 Boston, MA          181   Montgomery, AL

10 Denver, CO        182   Shreveport, LA

Best vs. Worst

Tacoma, Washington, has the highest monthly average starting salary (adjusted for cost of living), $3,816, which is 2.8 times higher than in Honolulu and Pearl City, Hawaii, the cities with the lowest at $1,382.

Gilbert, Arizona, has the highest median annual household income (adjusted for cost of living), $89,903, which is 3.4 times higher than in Hialeah, Florida, the city with the lowest at $26,281.

West Valley City, Utah, has the highest workforce diversity, which is 2.3 times higher than in New Haven, Connecticut, the city with the lowest.

South Burlington, Vermont, has the lowest unemployment rate, 1.70 percent, which is 4.8 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest at 8.10 percent.

To view the full report and your city’s rank, please visit:

https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-cities-to-start-a-career/3626/

  – WalletHub