United States of Shame…Where does YOUR State Rank?
January 29, 2011

After compiling various census and US health figures, pop culture blog Pleated-Jeans constructed a surprisingly informative map to illustrate the acts for which each of our fifty great states came in dead last.
While some stats fit in with a common stereotype, others are a bit more enlightening.
Most stats taken from http://www.americashealthrankings.org/ and http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/rankings.html (unless otherwise noted)
1. Alabama: highest rate of stroke (3.8 percent) (tied with Oklahoma)
2. Alaska: highest suicide rate (23.6 suicides per 100,000 people in 2004)
3. Arizona: highest rate of alcoholism
4. Arkansas: worst average credit score (636)
5. California: most air pollution (15.2 micrograms per cubic meter)
6. Colorado: highest rate of cocaine use per capita (3.9 percent total population)
7. Connecticut: highest rate of breast cancer
8. Delaware: highest abortion rate (27 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44)
9. Florida: highest rate of identity theft (122.3 reports per 100,000 people)
10. Georgia: sickly based on highest rate of influenza
11. Hawaii –highest cost of living (tied with California)
12. Idaho – lowest level of Congressional clout
13. Illinois: highest rate of robbery (284.7 incidences per 100,000 people)
14. Indiana: rated the most environmentally unfriendly by NMI solutions
15. Iowa: highest percentage of people age 85 and older (1.8 percent) (tied with three other states)
16. Kansas: poorest health based on highest average number of limited activity days per month (3.5 days)
17. Kentucky: most cancer deaths (227 per 100,000 people) (BONUS fact: Kentucky also has the highest rate of tobacco smokers – 25.6 percent)
18. Louisiana: highest rate of gonorrhea (264.4 reported cases per 100,000 people)
19. Maine: dumbest state claim based on lowest average SAT score (1389)
20. Maryland: highest rate of AIDS diagnosis (27.6 people per 100,000 people)
21. Massachusetts: worst drivers claim based on highest rate of auto accidents
22. Michigan: highest unemployment rate (13.6 percent)
23. Minnesota: highest number of reported tornadoes (123 in 2010)
24. Mississippi: highest rate of obesity (35.3 percent of total population)
BONUS facts: Mississippi ranks last in the most number of categories. These include highest rate of child poverty (31.9 percent), highest rate of infant mortality (10.3 percent) lowest median household income ($35,078), highest teen birth rate (71.9 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19) and highest overall rate of STDs.
25. Missouri: highest rate of bankruptcy (700 out of every 100,000 people)
26. Montana: highest rate of drunk driving deaths (1.12 deaths per 100 million miles driven)
27. Nebraska: highest rate of women murdered annually
28. Nevada: highest rate violent crime (702.2 offenses per 100,000 people). BONUS fact: Nevada also has the highest rate of foreclosure (one in 99 houses)
29. New Hampshire: highest rate of corporate taxes
30. New Jersey: highest rate of citizen taxation (11.8 percent)
31. New Mexico: antisocial claim based on lowest ranking in social heath policies
32. New York: longest average daily commute (30.6 minutes) http://www.statemaster.com/graph/lab_mea_tra_tim_to_wor-labor-mean-travel-time-work
33. North Carolina: lowest average teacher salary
34. North Dakota: ranked last in ugliest residents report as chosen by The Daily Beast
35. Ohio: nerdiest state claim based on highest number of library visits per capita (6.9)
36. Oklahoma: highest rate of female incarceration
37. Oregon: highest rate of long-term homeless people
38. Pennsylvania: highest rate of arson deaths (55.56 annually)
39. Rhode Island: highest rate of illicit drug use (12.5 percent of population) http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/drug-use-across-the-united-states-or-rhode-island-needs-more-rehab/
40. South Carolina: highest percentage of mobile homes (18.8 percent)
41. South Dakota: highest rate of forcible rape 76.5 per 100,000
42. Tennessee: chosen most corrupt state by The Daily Beast
43. Texas: lowest high school graduation rate (78.3 percent)
http://www.statemaster.com/graph/edu_hig_sch_dip_or_hig_by_per-high-school-diploma-higher-percentage
44. Utah: highest rate of of online porn subscriptions
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705288350/Utah-No-1-in-online-porn-subscriptions-report-says.html
45. Vermont: infertility claim based on lowest birth rate of any state (10.6 births per 1,000) (tied with Maine)
46. Virginia: highest number of alcohol-related motorcyle deaths
47. Washington: most cases of bestiality (4 reported in 2010)
48. West Virginia: highest rate of heart attack (6.5 percent of population)
49. Wisconsin: highest rate of binge drinking (23.2 percent of population)
50. Wyoming: highest rate of deadly car crashes (24.6 deaths per 100,000)
THANK YOU TO SAD HILL NEWS
Categories: America
Arkansas, arson, bankruptcy, california, cocaine, cost of living, crime, drunk driving, florida, homeless, Identity theft, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New York, pollution, suicide, Texas, tornadoes, unemployment