NJ Is The 2nd Best State To Live In (And 1 Of The Priciest): Report

NEW JERSEY — New Jersey often gets a bad rap, even from its own residents. But one report ranks the Garden State as one of the nation's best places to live.

WalletHub generated a list of 2022's Best States to Live in, based on 52 indicators of livability. New Jersey placed second — just ahead of New York in third place and only behind Massachusetts.

Of course, not everyone feels this way. New Jersey ranked fourth-to-last in a YouGovAmerica poll released April 2021. More people moved out of New Jersey than any other state in the nation last year, while the state apparently sported nine of the country's "unhappiest" cities.

Even WalletHub named New Jersey the worst state for retirement earlier this year. But the site's data analysis also points to some perks of living in the Garden State.

New Jersey ranks first in terms of safety, while also ranking fifth in education and health and seventh in quality of life. But the state lags in terms of affordability (third-to-last) and economy (39th overall), according to WalletHub.

The state has the third-lowest crime rate, according to WalletHub's data. But the safety category also incorporates law-enforcement employees per capita and traffic-related deaths per capita.

New Jersey also had an expectedly high ranking in the education category, as another recent WalletHub list deemed New Jersey as the state with the third-best school system.

See WalletHub's full rankings of best states to live in, and find out more about the methodology in the article.