Do you live where asking for a ladder is simple? Or do you prefer privacy over-friendly neighbors? You might be in one of these 12 states if you’re in the latter. Check out the list of 12 less-friendly states in America.
The states were chosen and ranked based on several components that make them unfriendly, not just in terms of the community and the basic definition of friendliness but also in terms of crime and corrections, fiscal stability, education, economy, healthcare, infrastructure, natural environment, and opportunity.
Let’s see which states made the list.
1. Louisiana
Louisiana, unfortunately, is popular for ranking low in many components, including education and crime.
The state records the highest rates in terms of homicide and incarceration. It also performs the worst in the components of education and opportunity. Almost 20% of the residents fall under the poverty line too.
2. Mississippi
Mississippi has an awful reputation in terms of many of the components considered in this list. The state ranks last in healthcare and in the Economic Hardship Index.
It has a low level of access to healthcare, where 20% of the population does not have health insurance, and the highest obesity rate in the country (38.7%). It also leads in terms of low birth weight and infant mortality.
In terms of poverty, almost 20% of the population lives below the poverty line (close to the top 1). This is further affected by other components, including food insecurity and unemployment.
3. California
While California has great healthcare and good infrastructure compared to other states, the affordability is California is terrible. It’s extremely hard to get a house or even earn enough to pay all your bills.
Many think the economy in California is great, but their economy still ranks 10th of all states.
4. Oklahoma
Oklahoma comes next in this list of the unfriendliest states in America. As a result of awful healthcare access, 20% of the population aged 19 to 64 in this state do not have access to healthcare insurance. It also has the highest rate of non-medical drug use in the country.
Meanwhile, its incarceration rate falls in the second spot, where 639 of every 100,000 people in jail are from Oklahoma.
5. Alabama
Another one of the unfriendliest states in the United States is Alabama, where the major concerns are focused on healthcare and education. Back in 2019, it ranked last in terms of the educational system, and while it somehow improved, it’s still far from the average. The progress is also way slower than the country’s average rate.
Healthcare is another major issue in Alabama, and people have almost no access to insurance. Depression, chronic disease, diabetes, and obesity are rampant and the highest among all other states.
6. New Mexico
New Mexico is yet another state in the United States that isn’t so friendly to its inhabitants. The state’s education system ranks last among all other states, and public schools are described as the worst in the country.
In the state, only 75% of the students actually graduate from high school, which is below the national average of 85.8%. New Mexico has a poverty rate of 17% and records the highest level of childhood poverty in the country.
7. Arkansas
Mainly because of high crime rates and worrying healthcare conditions, Arkansas is also on this list. Its dental care access and cardiovascular disease rates are considered one of the worst in America. This might be due to the fact that the state also ranks second in terms of the highest rate of tobacco use.
Arkansas also has the 4th highest incarceration rate and 4th highest in terms of violent crimes. Its economic struggles and poverty rates are also considerably high, which proves how hard it is to live in this state.
8. South Carolina
South Carolina comes next in the list, the basis for this comes from the low quality of education and high crime rate.
There’s been a notable steady increase in rates of aggravated assault and murder since 2016. The state’s poverty gap is also notable as one of the worst in America.
9. Arizona
Surprisingly, Arizona is the state with the worst education level nationwide. For healthcare, infrastructure, safety, and the economy they’re ranking quite average. It’s just the education level that has set them on the map (and on this list).
10. Kansas
Coming in 10th place is the state of Kansas. It has decent affordability compared with other states, but it’s definitely not cheap to live there. The infrastructure and education is average in Kansas too.
One area it’s severely lacking in is crime and safety, which means that the majority of people who live in Kansas don’t feel safe.
11. Missouri
While Missouri ranks average in terms of affordability and education, there are several factors where it ranks low. Their infrastructure definitely isn’t great as is their healthcare.
12. West Virginia
West Virginia has a reputation for having the worst infrastructure industry in the country, where almost a third of all the state’s roads are in bad condition. Besides that, they rank average for education and healthcare and rank quite well on affordability and crime.
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Source: World Population Review
MSN Writer, Radical FIRE
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Education: Bachelor of Science in Tourism, Major in Development Tourism Management at Ateneo de Naga University
Experience: Marisa Bolivar is a content writer with 10 years of experience in creating blogs and articles across different industries on the web. She has explored many niches in her years working as a content specialist with her favorite zeroing on entertainment, from books to movies and TV shows. Marisa is also a bookworm, who has a fondness for personal improvement and philosophical authors like Paulo Coelho and Mitch Albom.