Study Names Maine as One of the Best States to Live in

If you live in Maine, then you already know it's a wonderful place. But it's still nice to see it made official in national articles, like this recently published article.

Wallethub.com, a personal finance website, released its annual report of the best and worst states to live in. It should be no surprise to see Maine land near the top. The Pine Tree State came in with a more than respectable 12th place ranking.

Maine finished right behind Iowa and just ahead of Illinois on the list, which saw fellow New England cousin Massachusetts take the top spot.

Maine's total score was a 57.08 out of a possible 100 points. Clearly the grading was difficult, considering first place Massachusetts finished with just a 61.67.

The points system was based on five major categories: affordability, economy, quality of life, education & health, and safety. These categories were broken down into 51 subcategories to make it as detailed as possible. You can read more about the methodology here.

Maine was a bit inconsistent in scoring. While the state was a little lower in affordability (35th ranking) and quality of life (28th), it finished strongly in economy (9th) and health & education (13th). The best ranking came from safety, a solid 8th place. This isn't surprising, considering Maine has the lowest rate of violent crime (1.08 per 1,000 residents) in the country.

These rankings seem pretty accurate from a generalization standpoint. However, I'm a little surprised to see quality of life as low as it is. Maine is quite perfect, in my view. There are very few people, very little traffic, the entire state is an outdoor playground, the arts and athletics scene are strong, and I don't think I need to mention how incredible the food scene is.

As for the other three categories, no major glitches. All seem quite accurate when compared to its peers.

Should Maine be ranked higher? Call me bias, but I think so. However, that's me simply looking at very basic plot points, and not the in-depth picture that WalletHub did.

As a whole, New England had mixed results. As mentioned above, Massachusetts came in as the best state to live in (highly debatable). That was followed by New Hampshire, which was named the 3rd best. Vermont 17th, Connecticut 26th, and Rhode Island 29th.

What did WalletHub's study say was the worst state to live in? That would be New Mexico. Hey, I have driven through New Mexico. That is one badass state, but apparently not the best to reside in.

You can see the entire list right here.