job market Might have cooled down a bit, but there are still far more job openings nationwide than there are people to fill them. This means qualified workers remain a valuable commodity.
As a result, companies seeking to attract good employees like to set up shop in states with a good quality of life. Although some Countries are more than happy to help, these are not those states. They are the worst states in America to live and work.
Every year, CNBC reports America’s Best States for Business Study ranks quality of life as one of ten competitiveness categories Ranking the states. under This year’s methodologyy, the quality of life category accounts for 13% of the state’s total score.
We rated each state based on several livability factors, including crime rates, health care, air quality and child care. We also consider worker protection and legal safeguards against all forms of discrimination. And, we care about individual freedoms, including reproductive rights.
Across these ten states, there are quite a few holes in the welcome mat.
10. Arizona
Arizona Pro-Abortion Rights, a ballot initiative that seeks to enshrine abortion rights in the Arizona Constitution, held a press conference and protest in April during a recess for the Arizona House legislative session to denounce Arizona House Republicans and the 1864 abortion ban Held on December 17, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Rebecca Noble | Getty Images
Since everyone has their own opinion about weather, we don’t factor it into our quality of life rankings. this means Arizona Without even thinking about the heat, we reached the ground floor. We did take air quality into account, however, and according to the American Lung Association, rising temperatures in the state are causing some of the worst ozone pollution in the nation.
The Grand Canyon State also has growing disparities in health care, with fewer than two staffed hospital beds per 1,000 people, according to the American Hospital Association.
In May, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs sign In 1864, before Arizona became a state, abortion bans were almost completely repealed. But that still leaves the state with a 15-week ban. An oddity in the state constitution may allow the 1864 prohibition to be reinstated this fall, even if only briefly.
2024 Quality of Life Score: 119 points (out of 325 points) (Highest state grade: D-)
Advantage: Crime, voting rights, worker protections
weakness: air quality, reproductive rights, health care
9.Kansas
Thomas Barwick | Digital Vision | Getty Images
Quality child care is scarce in the Sunflower State, with a population of 2.9 million and only 825 licensed child care centers, according to Child Care Aware of America. Kansas It also has the most expensive childcare services in the country. Married couples with a median income are expected to spend nearly 14% of that amount on child care.
Oh, and don’t let the idyllic prairies fool you: Kansas reported more than 11,000 violent crimes in 2022, the latest data available from the FBI. Crime rates have begun to decline recently after rising for nearly a decade, but violence remains more severe in Kansas than in the country as a whole.
2024 Quality of Life Score: 113 points (out of 325 points) (highest state level: F)
Advantage: health care, reproductive rights
weakness: childcare, crime, worker protection
8. Louisiana
Police work at the scene of a shooting during the Krewe Bacchanalia parade in New Orleans on February 19, 2023.
Chandan Khanna | AFP | Getty Images
People in the Pelican State pride themselves on being made of tough materials. That’s probably a good thing in a state with the fourth-highest violent crime rate in the country, including more than 300 murders in 2022, according to FBI statistics.
Louisiana The state is the unhealthiest in the country, ranking fourth in premature death rates, according to the United Health Foundation. More than 40% of Louisianans are obese. However, the state leads the way in child care, with a population of 4.5 million and more than 1,800 licensed facilities, according to the Louisiana Department of Education.
2024 Quality of Life Score: 100 points (out of 325 points) (Highest state grade: F)
strength: childcare
weakness: Crime, health, reproductive rights
7. Missouri
St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell listens to a concerned voter after voting outside the St. Louis County Board of Elections on November 3, 2020, in St. Ann, Missouri.
Michael B. Thomas | Michael B. ThomasGetty Images
In 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic raged, Missouri Be one of the last states to cave and allow early and mail-in voting. But it remains one of the most burdensome states to vote, said Pomanter, an elections researcher at the United Democracy Center. Missouri is one of only 10 states that requires a qualifying reason to vote by mail. Missouri has the sixth-highest crime rate in the United States, with more than 30,000 reported crimes in 2022.
2024 Quality of Life Score: 98 points (out of 325 points) (highest state level: F)
strength: air quality
weakness: Voting rights, crime, reproductive rights
6. Tennessee
On March 12, 2024, Nashville, Tennessee, educators and various organizations from across Tennessee marched to Amazon headquarters in downtown Nashville to protest Governor Bill Lee’s school voucher program.
Seth Herald | Getty Images
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Report Violent crime is declining in the state, including a nearly 9% drop in the murder rate in 2022.
this human rights movement claim Tennessee Lawmakers unleash “a tsunami of discriminatory legislation” in 2024, including law Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill in April prohibiting state social services departments from seeking to place LGBTQ+ foster children in supportive homes. other law Clearing the way for the state to abolish the independent human rights commission and fold it into the partisan attorney general’s office.
2024 Quality of Life Score: 96 points (out of 325 points) (highest state level: F)
Advantage: child care, air quality
weakness: crime, inclusion, health care
5. Arkansas
Cali 9 | Electronic+ | Getty Images
state of nature It’s dangerous, with the second-highest violent crime rate in the country, behind only New Mexico. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, anti-discrimination provisions in the state’s public accommodations law are weak and provide no protections against discrimination based on age, veteran or military status, pregnancy, sexual orientation or marital status. However, the state is a leader in affordable child care. Married couples with moderate incomes can expect to spend only 9% of their income on child care. The state has a population of approximately 3 million and nearly 1,800 licensed child care facilities.
2024 Quality of Life Score: 93 points (out of 325 points) (highest state level: F)
strength: child care
weakness: Inclusion, crime, voting rights
4. Oklahoma
On May 7, 2022, Dr. Franz Theard counseled a woman from Oklahoma seeking an abortion at the Women’s Reproductive Clinic in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. 》, taken from Getty Images
Paul Raj | The Washington Post | Getty Images
Oklahoma’s abortion banThe lawsuit stemming from the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision is among the most restrictive in the country, according to the Guttmacher Institute. It bans abortion at any stage of pregnancy except in cases of rape or incest or when it is necessary to save the life of the mother. Oklahoma has the third-highest obesity rate in the nation and the third-highest physical activity rate in the nation. This helps to make older countries Among the most unhealthy groups in the United States.
2024 Quality of Life Score: 85 points out of 325 (highest state grade: F)
strength: air quality
weakness: Reproductive rights, health, worker protections, voting rights
3.Alabama
Voters enter the polls to cast their ballots for the state’s primary election on March 5, 2024 in Oxford, Alabama. 15 states and 1 U.S.
Elijah Nouvelage | Elijah Nouvelage Getty Images
Alabama The state is one of only three that does not allow early voting (the others are Mississippi and New Hampshire), according to the Center for Election Innovation and Research. This year, the state passed significant new restrictions on absentee voting.
Oxfam America ranks the Yellowhammer State dead last on wage policies. The state’s minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, which is enough to cover less than 20% of living expenses for a family of four. Alabama is one of only five states without a public accommodations law prohibiting discrimination against people without disabilities.
2024 Quality of Life Score: 83 points (out of 325 points) (highest state level: F)
strength: child care
weakness: Voting rights, inclusion, worker protections
2. Indiana
Salstock | Electronic+ | Getty Images
Indiana It is the state with the worst access to child care, with a population of nearly 7 million and only 772 licensed facilities. Low supply and demand are making child care expensive in Indiana. A married couple can expect to spend nearly 13% of their median income on child care.
Indiana has also joined the chorus of passing laws targeting LGBTQ+ people, including banning gender-affirming care for minors and banning teachers from discussing human sexuality in pre-K through third grade.
2024 Quality of Life Score: 78 points out of 325 (highest state grade: F)
strength: crime
weakness: child care, reproductive rights, inclusivity, voting rights
1. Texas
On July 18, 2023, Darwin Varela was transported to Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center in Eagle Pass, Texas, suffering from dehydration.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
Yes, we know. People are moving to the Lone Star State in droves. According to the Census Bureau, about 220,000 educated workers will move there in 2022 alone. So how is it possible that the quality of life in Texas is at the bottom? The truth is, people move to a state for many reasons. According to the data, people arriving in Texas are facing some serious livability issues.
Take something as basic as health care. Texas According to the United Health Foundation, there are 182 primary care providers per 100,000 residents, ranking near the bottom. Texas leads the nation in the number of uninsured residents by far, and 19 percent of all Texans with a credit score have medical debt that has been collected, according to the Commonwealth Fund.
These new Texans found no protection in the law. Texas is another state without a public accommodations law prohibiting discrimination against non-disabled people; it has passed a slew of laws targeting the LGBTQ+ community; and its abortion ban is among the strictest in the nation. Additionally, according to Oxfam America, if any of the new Texas residents lost their jobs, state unemployment benefits would cover, on average, less than 10% of the cost of living.
Will Texas’ restrictive policies spark a backlash? There are some anecdotal reports of people leaving the state because of abortion ban and its Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws. But right now, people are pouring into states that statistically have the worst quality of life in America.
2024 Quality of Life Score: 75 points out of 325 (highest state grade: F)
strength: air quality
weakness: reproductive rights, health care, voting rights, inclusion, worker protections
Correction: Alabama is one of only three states that does not allow early voting. Delaware recently resumed early voting. An earlier version of this article misstated this fact.
