NJ's 2019 Ranking Among Best States To Live In May Surprise You

NEW JERSEY — If we, as New Jersey residents, didn't have to deal with the absurdly high cost of living and the not-so-great state of the economy, the Garden State might indeed be the best place to live in America.

WalletHub crunched the data and released its 2019’s "Best States to Live" in list on Tuesday and, somewhat surprisingly, New Jersey was ranked the fourth best state to live in.

This is an exceptional rating once you realize New Jersey was ranked 48th when it pertains to affordability and 35th on the topic of the state's sluggish economy.

But in the area of education, New Jersey ranked 15th best, and our state is the safest in the country. Even our "quality of life" was ranked No. 7. All in all not too bad, minus our economy and the cost of living.

New Jersey was ranked No. 7 in having the lowest percentage of population living below the poverty level.

Here are some other key stats WalletHub found concerning New Jersey: 26th in percentage of insured population, 30th in percentage of adults in fair or poor health, 23rd in average weekly work hours and seventh in restaurants per capita.

WalletHub said it devised its newest rankings based on 51 key indicators of livability. They range from housing costs and income growth to education rate and quality of hospitals.

According to WalletHub the five best states in America to live in are: Massachusetts, No. 1, Minnesota, No. 2, New Hampshire, No. 3, New Jersey, No. 4, and Colorado, No. 5.

The worst five states to live in are: Mississippi, No. 50, Louisiana, No. 49, New Mexico, No, 48, Arkansas, No. 47, and Alabama, No. 46.

Here are some observations via WalletHub:

Best vs. Worst

• Utah has the highest quality of the public hospital system, with 81.83 percent of patients giving their hospital a rating of 9 or 10, which is 1.5 times higher than in New Jersey, the state with the lowest at 54.33 percent.
• New Hampshire has the lowest share of residents living in poverty, 8.10 percent, which is 2.7 times lower than in Mississippi, the state with the highest at 21.50 percent.
• South Dakota, has the shortest average commute time, 17 minutes, which is 1.9 times shorter than in New York, the state with the longest at 33 minutes.
• Maine, has the fewest violent crimes (per 1,000 residents), 1.21, which is 6.9 times less than in Alaska, the state with the most at 8.29.

>>>Read the full WalletHub report here.