NH #1 again as "most livable"

[KBCraig]

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=NH+claims+best-in-nation+award+again&articleId=66c96707-2b3a-4f9b-bcb7-169cae924709

NH claims best-in-nation award again

By BENJAMIN KEPPLE
Union Leader Staff

New Hampshire is once again the nation?s ?Most Livable State,? according to a Kansas research firm?s annual study of American living conditions.

It?s the third straight year Morgan Quitno Press has given the designation to the Granite State. Its rankings are based on dozens of factors, from economic performance to infrastructure. Word of the Granite State?s first-place finish had officials talking up the ?three-peat.?

?This report affirms what citizens of our state already know: New Hampshire is a great place to live and work,? Gov. John Lynch said in a written statement.

This year, according to Morgan Quitno and state authorities, New Hampshire once again edged Minnesota for the top spot. Minnesota has ranked second the past three years. Iowa, Vermont and New Jersey were the other states in the top five.

Vermont, which ranked fourth, fell from third place last year. Massachusetts ranked seventh, which was the same as in 2005. Connecticut ranked 10th, which was up from 14th. Maine fell two spots to 17th, and Rhode Island fell three spots to 26th. At the other end of the scale, Mississippi ranked 49th, while Louisiana ranked 50th. The company said those rankings don?t reflect the impact of Hurricane Katrina.

?New Hampshire has always done well in this ranking,? said Scott Morgan, president of Lawrence-based Morgan Quitno.

Morgan also said the state, while not perfect, performed well across the board in this year?s survey. That?s similar to how the Granite State has performed in prior years.

In the 2005 ranking, New Hampshire had the third-highest median household income in America, the highest percentage of residents who had graduated from high school, and the lowest teenage birth rate. Those were just three of the 44 factors Morgan Quitno used in its rankings that year.

However, some factors worked against New Hampshire in the 2005 ranking. The state had the 10th-lowest daily average temperature. It also had higher than average costs for electricity.

Sean O?Kane, commissioner of the state Department of Resources and Economic Development, said in a statement that winning the award three years running gives New Hampshire a unique marketing tool to attract both new businesses and vacationers.

?There?s no doubt that our state has a lot to be proud of and that all citizens share in the joy of this honor,? O?Kane said.

[njxpat]

As a fan of NH, but currently living in NJ, I'm not sure how much this matters if NJ ranks #5.   

Their basis for making this score must be based on things other than corruption in governmant, high taxes, pollution, traffic, delapadated infrastructure and over-population.  Good for NH, but when NJ ranks 5th, there's something wrong!  In my opinion, NH and NJ are on opposite ends of the "livibility" spectrum.

[KBCraig]

As a fan of NH, but currently living in NJ, I'm not sure how much this matters if NJ ranks #5.

It's definitely not based on political freedom.

I think most "livability" surveys are based on school quality, availability of quality health care, and such. Some states achieve those things through market freedom, others by theft and force.

Kevin

[Fluff and Stuff]

Morgan Quitno 2005 Most Livable State Methodology

Negative Factors
1 Percent Change in Number of Crimes: 2002 to 2003 (Table 27)
2 Crime Rate (Table 28)
3 State Prisoner Incarceration Rate (Table 62)
4 Personal Bankruptcy Rate (Table 104)
5 Pupil-Teacher Ratio in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools
(Table 124)
6 Rate of Public Libraries and Branches (Table 154)
7 Unemployment Rate (Table 173)
8 Percent of Nonfarm Employees in Government (Table 187)
9 Electricity Prices (Table 206)
10 Hazardous Waste Sites on the National Priority List per 10,000
Square Miles (Table 220)
11 State & Local Taxes as a Percent of Personal Income (Table 291)
12 Per Capita State and Local Government Debt Outstanding (Table 303)
13 Percent of Population Not Covered by Health Insurance (Table 366)
14 Births of Low Birthweight as a Percent of All Births (Table 377)
15 Teenage Birth Rate (Table 378)
16 Infant Mortality Rate (Table 384)
17 Age-Adjusted Death Rate by Suicide (Table 398)
18 Population per Square Mile (Table 435)
19 Poverty Rate (Table 495)
20 Percent of Female-Headed Families with Children Living in Poverty
(Table 499)
21 State and Local Government Spending for Welfare Programs as a
Percent of All Spending (Table 502)
22 Percent of Households Receiving Food Stamps (Table 527)
23 Deficient Bridges as a Percent of Total Bridges (Table 544)
24 Highway Fatality Rate (Table 547)
25 Fatalities in Alcohol-Related Crashes as a Percent of All Highway
Fatalities (Table 554)

Positive Factors
26 Per Capita Gross State Product (Table 95)
27 Percent Change in Per Capita Gross State Product: 1998 to 2002
(Adjusted to Constant Dollars) (Table 96)
28 Per Capita Personal Income (Table 99)
29 Change in Per Capita Personal Income: 2002 to 2003 (Table 100)
30 Median Household Income (Table 102)
31 Public High School Graduation Rate (Table 128)
32 Percent of Population Graduated from High School (Table 129)
33 Expenditures for Education as a Percent of All State and Local
Government Expenditures (Table 139)
34 Percent of Population With a Bachelor?s Degree or More (Table 152)
35 Books in Public Libraries Per Capita (Table 155)
36 Per Capita State Art Agencies? Legislative Appropriations (Table 156)
37 Average Weekly Earnings of Production Workers on Manufacturing
Payrolls (Table 163)
38 Job Growth:  2003 to 2004 (Table 178)
39 Normal Daily Mean Temperature (Table 232)
40 Percent of Days That Are Sunny (Table 233)
41 Homeownership Rate (Table 422)
42 Domestic Migration of Population: 2003 to 2004 (Table 477)
43 Marriage Rate (Table 483)
44 Percent of Eligible Population Reported Voting (Table 494)

http://www.morganquitno.com/sr05mlfac.htm