1. Least Livable - West Virginia | 24/7 Wall St.: The Most (and Least) Livable States

24/7 Wall St.: The Most (and Least) Livable States

1. Least Livable - West Virginia

Future livability score: 43.3
Full-time employment: 2nd worst
Job creation index: 20th best
Outlook on life in five years: 23rd best

While West Virginia has an unemployment rate of 7%, well below the 8.2% national unemployment rate, it ranks second worst in terms of people employed full-time. The state also has the second-lowest median household income of $38,218 and the eighth-highest percentage of people below the poverty line, at 17.62%. West Virginia also can lay claim to the dubious title of unhealthiest state. It has the highest rate of smokers in the nation with a quarter of residents smoking as of 2011. The state also has the highest obesity rate (35.3%), the highest rate of people with high blood pressure (38.9%) and the highest rate of people with diabetes (15.7%) as of 2011. Options for those looking to stay in shape are limited as the state ranks dead last in ease of finding a safe place to exercise.

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The Full List: America's Least Livable States

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America’s Most (... Media reports regularly rank the country’s states in terms of their current economic situation, health, jobs and even water quality. But what about their future? That’s what Gallup attempted to find out. On Tuesday, the national polling agency released a report identifying the “future livability” of every state in the country, or the best and worst states to live tomorrow.

Based on surveys conducted over 18 months measuring current sentiment, Gallup identified 13 metrics that can be used to gauge how livable states will be in the future. Some questions, which measure each state’s economy, job prospects and personal finances, are intended to predict the future economic prospects of a state. Others measure current quality-of-life components that can have an effect on long-term health, including rates of obesity, smoking and the availability of safe, clean water.

24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 13 measures Gallup included in its future livability report, all of which are for the most recent 18 months. At Gallup’s direction, they referenced earlier versions of some of these surveys in order to provide figures where current data is unavailable. 24/7 Wall St. also considered poverty, income, food stamp recipiency and health insurance coverage from the U.S. Census Bureau for 2010, the most recent available year. They also reviewed June 2011 and June 2012 unemployment figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as well as home price projections from Q1 2012 from Fiserv.

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5. Most Livable ... Future livability score: 14.5
Full-time employment: The best
Job creation index: The best
Outlook on life in five years: 14th worst

Like its southern neighbor, North Dakota has an extremely strong job outlook, with the nation’s best job creation score and a June unemployment rate of 2.9% — the nation’s lowest. In 2011, the proportion of employees who stated their employer was hiring was 34 percentage points higher than the proportion claiming their employer was shedding jobs — the largest disparity in the nation. Additionally, North Dakota residents have the fourth-highest economic confidence score, and few states have residents who are more optimistic about their future quality of life. But despite all these positive projections about the state, respondents are less enthusiastic about their own lives in five years, giving the 14th-worst projections for their futures lives.

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The Full List: America's Most Livable States

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4. Most Livable ... Future livability score: 13.7
Full-time employment: 2nd best
Job creation index: 4th best
Outlook on life in five years: 9th worst

Nebraska’s housing market did not collapse nearly as hard as other parts of America. Housing prices in the state only fell 2.8% from the first quarter of 2007 to the first quarter of 2012, much better than the U.S. average of a 33.3% drop. In turn, the June 2012 unemployment rate of 3.8% is second lowest after North Dakota, and is less than half the national rate of 8.2%. Those employees feel valued, too; the state ranks fifth overall in terms of managers treating employees as partners and not as bosses. Despite this, Nebraska is one of four states on this list ranked in the bottom 10 in terms of life outlook five years from now.

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The Full List: America's Most Livable States

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3. Most Livable ... Future livability score: 12.8
Full-time employment: 10th best
Job creation index: 18th worst
Outlook on life in five years: 18th worst

Colorado residents are among the healthiest in the United States. With an obesity rate of 18.5%, it is the only state to have an obesity rate below 20% as of 2011. The state also ranks third in terms of finding a safe place to exercise. Colorado’s 20% smoking rate, while not as impressive as its low obesity rate, is below the national average of 21%. The state’s unemployment rate is the same as the national average at 8.2%. But of all states, Colorado has the fifth-lowest decline in unemployment from 2011 to 2012, dropping only 0.2 percentage points compared to 0.9 percentage points in the U.S. as a whole. However, for those who have work, the state ranks third in managers who treat their employees like partners.

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The Full List: America's Most Livable States

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
2. Most Livable ... Future livability score: 10.5
Full-time employment: 8th best
Job creation index: 10th best
Outlook on life in five years: 3rd worst

The Gopher state ranks first in economic confidence and the ease of finding a safe place to exercise. The Land of 10,000 Lakes also comes in second for the ease in finding clean, safe drinking water. With the seventh-lowest rate of smoking, the fifth-highest rate of regular visits to the dentist and the proportion of the population insured, Minnesotans are a healthy bunch compared to their fellow Americans. Despite all of this, the state is projected to have the fourth-worst change in home prices between the first quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013, with an almost 5% drop compared to a national average projected decrease of 1%.

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The Full List: America's Most Livable States

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
1. Most Livable ... Future livability score: 7.5
Full-time employment: 21st best
Job creation index: 5th best
Outlook on life in five years: 21st worst

Job creation has been booming in Utah. The state ranks sixth highest in Gallup’s job creation index and has the tenth-lowest unemployment rate of any state in the country as of June. In 2011, the proportion of respondents stating their employers were hiring was 20 percentage points higher than the proportion stating their employers were letting people go. Positive attitudes go well beyond just the number of jobs: in the past 18 months, residents of Utah were more likely than those of any other state to claim they felt treated like a partner at work and to claim they had easy access to clean water. People in Utah not only like where they live, but they are also very healthy. No state has fewer smokers and just four states have lower obesity rates.

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The Full List: America's Most Livable States

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5. Least Livable... Future livability score: 33.9 (tied for 5th worst)
Full-time employment: 13th worst
Job creation index: 17th best
Outlook on life in five years: 10th best

Even though the state’s unemployment rate of 7.2% is well below the national rate of 8.2% for June, Arkansans have less confidence in the economy than residents of all other states except West Virginia. There may be good reasons for this pessimism as 18% of residents live below the poverty line, the fifth-highest proportion nationwide. Additionally, at $38,307 a year, more than $11,000 live below the median for the United States. Arkansas has the nation’s third-lowest household median income. The state is also one of the unhealthiest in the country, with the third-highest obesity rate, the fourth-highest smoking rate and the second-lowest proportion of people who visited a dentist in the past 12 months.

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The Full List: America's Least Livable States

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
4. Least Livable... Future livability score: 34.5
Full-time employment: 15th worst
Job creation index: 9th worst
Outlook on life in five years: 18th best

The housing collapse has hit Nevada harder than any other state in the country. Home prices dropped 59.7% from the first quarter of 2007 to the first quarter of 2012, more than any other state by nearly 10 percentage points. In the next five years, housing prices are expected to rise only 2% annually, the third-smallest increase among all states. The collapse of the housing market has led to a poor job market. The state has the highest unemployment rate in the country at 11.6%, although the rate dropped 2.2 percentage points from 2011, faster than any other state. Nevadans, however, are not feeling the relief. The state ranks eighth from the bottom in the proportion of people who believe their standard of living is getting better, the second-lowest rate on this list.

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The Full List: America's Least Livable States

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
3. Least Livable... Future livability score: 36.7
Full-time employment: 16th worst
Job creation index: 23rd best
Outlook on life in five years: 20th worst

Kentucky’s median household income of $40,062 is the fourth lowest of all states and about $10,000 less than the median income across the United States. The state also has the fourth-highest percentage of people below the poverty line and people on food stamps/SNAP benefits. It is not surprising that the state has the eighth-lowest score on the economic confidence index. Kentuckians health is also poor. The state has the second-highest rate of smokers, with an estimated 29% reporting smoking in 2011, the seventh-highest obesity rate and the 10th lowest rate of people who say they have visited the dentist in the past year. Kentucky ranks fourth from the bottom in ease of finding a safe place to exercise.

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The Full List: America's Least Livable States

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
2. Least Livable... Future livability score: 37.8
Full-time employment: The worst
Job creation index: 11th best
Outlook on life in five years: The best

While Gallup ranks Mississippi second worst for future livability, residents feel good about their own future as the state ranks first for the best outlook on life in five years’ time. But the Magnolia state has the lowest percentage of people employed full-time and the lowest median income in the country at $36,851, less than three-quarters of the national average of $50,046. Mississippi ranks worst in the country in the percentage of the population living below the poverty line and in the percentage of residents who feel like their manager treats them like a partner and not like a boss. Mississippi is also among the worst in several important areas of health. The state has the second-highest rate of obesity and the fifth-highest percentage of smokers. It is also ranks second worst in finding a safe place to exercise and has the lowest percentage of residents who have visited the dentist in the last year.

(AP Photo)

The Full List: America's Least Livable States

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
1. Least Livable... Future livability score: 43.3
Full-time employment: 2nd worst
Job creation index: 20th best
Outlook on life in five years: 23rd best

While West Virginia has an unemployment rate of 7%, well below the 8.2% national unemployment rate, it ranks second worst in terms of people employed full-time. The state also has the second-lowest median household income of $38,218 and the eighth-highest percentage of people below the poverty line, at 17.62%. West Virginia also can lay claim to the dubious title of unhealthiest state. It has the highest rate of smokers in the nation with a quarter of residents smoking as of 2011. The state also has the highest obesity rate (35.3%), the highest rate of people with high blood pressure (38.9%) and the highest rate of people with diabetes (15.7%) as of 2011. Options for those looking to stay in shape are limited as the state ranks dead last in ease of finding a safe place to exercise.

(AP Photo)

The Full List: America's Least Livable States

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
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