Editorial: Looks like we’ve got it made in Massachusetts

One other nationwide survey, one more reason to be from Massachusetts.

Regardless of its overly liberal orientation and unaffordable housing, this state continues to rank at or close to the highest of metrics that point out it’s top-of-the-line locations to stay in these United States.

Earlier this yr, WalletHub named the Bay State the eighth least pressured state in the complete nation.

The Washington, D.C.. based mostly private finance web site in contrast all 50 states throughout 41 totally different key indicators of stress.

The info set included common hours labored per week, private chapter fee, and share of adults getting sufficient sleep, amongst others.

The commonwealth’s remarkably low stress ranges coincided with its excessive rating in classes like credit score rating, most psychologists per capita, and fewest work week hours.

In New England, solely New Hampshire, which had the bottom proportion of inhabitants residing in poverty and the second-lowest crime fee per capita, might declare to be much less pressured, with the Granite State ending within the fifth most carefree place.

Utah took the least-stressed high spot, adopted by Minnesota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Hawaii, North Dakota, Massachusetts, Nebraska and New Jersey.

Louisiana earned the doubtful distinction of being most pressured, adopted by Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, West Virginia, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Texas, Tennessee and Kentucky.

And now this newest nationwide evaluate of the 50 states rated Massachusetts the nation’s healthiest for the second yr in a row.

In keeping with a examine launched by the Boston College’s Faculty of Public Well being and the digital well being firm Sharecare, Massachusetts retained the highest healthiest spot in 2021, adopted by Hawaii, New Jersey, Maryland, and New York.

Conversely, Mississippi stays on the backside of the listing for the third yr working, joined by Arkansas, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Alabama.

The annual examine goals to present an summary of the nation’s well being and well-being by assessing individuals’s particular person well being — their bodily, social, and monetary well-being — and mixing that information with details about neighborhood well being, together with financial safety, dwelling values, public transit use, and entry to meals, well being care, and public facilities.

Massachusetts scored the very best within the domains of healthcare entry, housing and transportation — which seems to be at dwelling values, the ratio of dwelling worth to earnings, and public transit use.

The state’s subsequent highest scores had been in objective well-being, outlined as “liking what you do every day and feeling motivated to attain your objectives,” and monetary well-being, adopted by bodily, social, neighborhood, and meals entry.

The evaluation of the underside 5 states confirmed the bottom scores in neighborhood wellbeing, which measures how a lot individuals like the place they stay and have satisfaction of their neighborhood. These states additionally scored low within the space of objective well-being.

Whereas there was some crossover within the top-10 of least-stressed and healthiest states — Massachusetts made each lists — essentially the most pressured and least wholesome states are just about mirror photos.

Louisiana, New Mexico, West Virginia, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky all ranked on the backside of each surveys.

It might be simplistic to say these surveys merely reinforce the gaping high quality of life divide between blue and pink states.

However there’s no denying that the listing of the nation’s 10 poorest states — Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, South Carolina, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Oklahoma — accommodates nearly all these in each backside 10 lists.

In Massachusetts, we’re lucky to have among the best medical facilities on this planet, together with the mental capital that drives our highly-skilled financial system.

That’s not the case in lots of these pink states, whose residents typically work lower-paying, extra bodily demanding jobs.

Maybe if we might shut the well being and earnings gaps that exist in these have and have-not states, we might clear up different points that divide us.