The Worst Statistic About Your State

Alaska’s annual unemployment rate of 7.2% is the highest of any U.S. state and a full percentage point above New Mexico, the state with the second highest unemployment rate.

Nearly a quarter of state adults report having fair or poor health, compared to 16.0% of Americans.

In Colorado, just 14.6% of Hispanic adults graduated college, less than a third of the white college degree attainment rate, which is 45.6%.

The average debt for bank-issued credit cards in Connecticut is $7,258, the highest of any of the lower 48 states (Alaska has even higher credit card debt).

Just 2.4% of the energy used in Delaware comes from renewable sources, one of the lowest shares of any U.S. state. Nationally, 11.7% of energy production comes from renewable non-hydro sources.

Due to its location relative to the Atlantic Ocean, Florida has been slammed by 120 hurricanes since 1851. Texas is next with 64.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Georgia has 40 hate groups, including multiple chapters of the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, and Skinheads.

As a result of its remote location relative to the rest of the United States, the cost of living in Hawaii is 18.4% higher than the average cost of living nationwide.

Illinois has long struggled with debt levels that put it at risk of a serious financial crisis or even bankruptcy. In its most recent fiscal year with available data, the state had $244.9 billion in obligations and just $28.8 billion in assets.

Iowa is a relatively peaceful state, but it recently had a spike of 46% in homicides, the largest increase of any state. Even with the increase, however, the state’s murder rate is below average.

The rate of larceny and theft in America became less common in the last year, but not in Kansas. The state had a U.S.-high increase of 4.6 percentage points in its larceny and theft rate.

Preventable hospitalizations are a sign of poor health habits and a suboptimal medical system. Kentucky has an estimated 76.56 preventable hospitalizations per 100,000 Medicare enrollees, the highest of any state.

Maryland has the highest rate of robbery of any U.S. state, at 185 reported incidents per 100,000 residents. For comparison, the U.S. robbery rate is 98 per 100,000.

Though the property crime rate is declining nationwide, it is increasing in Minnesota, up 2.7% from 2016 to 2017. Minnesota is one of the few states where both larceny and car theft rates increased over that period.

Nearly one out of every five Mississippi residents lives in poverty, the highest poverty rate in the country and well above the national poverty rate of 13.4%.

There were 1,825 meth lab busts in Missouri in 2012, hundreds more than the state with the next highest amount of busts.

Montana has the highest suicide rate of any state, at 26.0 incidents per 100,000 residents.

North Carolina has over 300 miles of coastline and is especially susceptible to damage from sea-level rise. By some estimates, rising sea levels could cost $223 million per year by 2080 in southern North Carolina alone.

Air pollution is a problem in Ohio. The average daily concentration of PM2.5, harmful inhalable particulate matter, is 11.3 micrograms per cubic meter, the highest concentration of any state.

Between 1980 and and 2014, life expectancy at birth improved by only 3.4 years in Oklahoma, the smallest improvement of any state and less than half the 7.2 year national increase.

Abuse of pain relievers is an ongoing problem in the United States, and 6.38% of Oregon’s residents 12 and up abuse them, the highest share of any state. Oregon is one of six states where more than one in 10 18-25 year olds abuse painkillers.

An estimated 39.7% of public roadway in Rhode Island is in poor condition, the largest share of any state and more than triple the 11.2% share of roadway nationwide.

Just 54.2% of South Carolina residents have access to places for physical activity like park parks and recreation centers, the smallest share of any state.

In Texas, 17.3% of the population lacks health insurance, the highest uninsured rate of any state.

Social associations like golf clubs, fitness centers, religious organizations, and others provide social support networks — and there are only 3.5 social associations for every 10,000 people in Utah, the least of any state.

Between cards issued by both banks and retailers, Virginians have an average of $9,120 in credit card debt, the most of any state in the contiguous United States.

Washington had among the most car thefts in 2017, with 28,796 reported incidents. This trails only the far more populous states of Texas, California, and Florida.

West Virginia’s 35.5% adult obesity rate is the highest of any state. The national obesity rate is 28.0%.

An estimated 26.2% of adults in Wisconsin report drinking excessively, the largest share of any state. The national rate of drinking to excess is 18.0%.

Over the last five years, total employment in Wyoming has fallen by an average of 0.62% per year, the steepest such decline of any state.