Mississippi has taken a one-two punch from the Wallet Hub website. This week the personal-finance site ranked the state the worst one in America to live in, while last week its statistics said Mississippi is the state with the highest percentage of underprivileged children.
Our inability or unwillingness to take proper care of more of our children has been fairly well documented, so the children’s result is not a real surprise. Given that Mississippi has a very high percentage of poor adults, it would have been a surprise to be ranked anywhere else.
Wallet Hub used 27 different measurements to rank the 50 states and Washington, D.C.
Mississippi ranked first (which unfortunately in this listing is the worst) in the percentage of children living in homes with an income below the poverty line. (Louisiana is right behind in second place.) It also has the nation’s highest infant mortality rate. (Louisiana is third.)
Mississippi has the second-highest percentage of children in single-parent families, and the fifth-highest rate of child food insecurity. It ranks 19th in both the percentage of maltreated children and the percentage of children without health care insurance. We probably have decades of work ahead of us to fix all this.
Now to the report that says Mississippi is the worst state in America in which to live. While many residents will disagree, remember that disappointing 2020 census count that said our population is not growing at all.
This survey used 52 indicators of livability. Among Mississippi’s notable results:
• 50th in the percentage of population living in poverty (in this survey, lower results mean a state compares poorly to others).
• 48th in the percentage of people 12 and older who are fully vaccinated.
• 45th in the percentage of adults who are rated in fair or poor health.
• 45th in the percentage of the population with health insurance.
• 40th in the number of restaurants per capita, presumably an indicator of fewer outlets for entertainment and relaxation.
• 35th in income growth.
Mississippi did fare reasonably well in two important metrics. The state’s homeownership rate came in a surprisingly high 16th, and housing costs ranked 21st in the nation. But those were not nearly enough to overcome all the larger problems that have beset Mississippi for decades or even longer.
One element of this survey will make you think things aren’t quite so bad in Mississippi: The top three states to live in, according to Wallet Hub’s measurements, are Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. Seriously?
All three rank in the 40s — among the worst — in affordability, while Mississippi ranks seventh. But all three ranked highly in measurements of education/health and quality of life. Mississippi was 50th in one and 49th in the other. The results say Mississippi needs to work on education, health and quality of life. Those actually would be good places to start.
— Jack Ryan, McComb Enterprise-Journal
