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418
CNBC’s 'worst states to live' list sparks Republican backlash after red-state sweep (www.chron.com)
submitted 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) by ZeroCool@piefed.ca to c/politics@lemmy.world
52 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Original article - CNBC - These are America’s 10 worst states to live in for 2026

The list from 10-1: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Missouri, Utah, Georgia, Louisiana, Indiana, Texas, and Tennessee.

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[–] Fmstrat@lemmy.world 1 points 24 minutes ago* (last edited 21 minutes ago)

Chron:

CNBC gave each state a "Quality of Life" rating based on several key factors, including issues that have become political flashpoints, such as reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ protections and healthcare.

CNBC:

CNBC is placing increasing emphasis on Quality of Life, one of the 10 categories of competitiveness in our annual America’s Top States for Business study. It is our annual ranking of every state’s business climate, now in its 20th year. Under this year’s methodology, the category makes up 11.6% of a state’s overall score, up from about ten percent last year.

11.6%. Thanks Chron, for underplaying the fact that this wasn't even a study about the poor QOL in these states, they just happen to have poor QOL. Not to mention in the QOL section there were some pretty important topics, like, you know, ability to put food on the table and violent crime.

[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 7 points 3 hours ago

expect those loudmouth fascists to bitch and moan about every truth thrown at them. its just how the are

[–] Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca 5 points 4 hours ago

No Florida?

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 17 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

"If Tennessee was really the worst state to live in, people wouldn’t be moving there in large numbers, which they are," Desantis wrote. 

MAGAs are so stupid, they ALWAYS miss the point. Tennessee, like Florida, is one of the most beautiful places in America. The problem is that it is filled with MAGAs. Having more of them move there is not making those beautiful places better. The reason they are bad states, and getting worse, is precisely because so many MAGAs are moving there.

And it's making the places they are leaving even better.

[–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 6 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

Yes, but the point he's making is that what's best is subjective. If you're looking for bad infrastructure, a lot of poverty, terrible education, no health care and few jobs then Tennessee may be exactly what you want.

[–] Thebeardedsinglemalt@lemmy.world 9 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (1 children)

Odd that Mississippi isn't on that last despite being a cesspool. I used to live in GA and even people from Alabama knew the only reason they weren't the worst state in the US was because Mississippi exists

[–] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 5 points 5 hours ago

TGFM (Thank god for Mississipi) is what allowed Alabama to be 49th on most quality of life metrics for so long.

[–] Azal@pawb.social 5 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Having come from Arkansas moving to Missouri.

Yup.

[–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 1 points 4 hours ago

Missouri is not even on the list.

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 6 points 6 hours ago

Truth hurts. They feel the pain.

Because it is still cheaper do deny facts than fixing actual problems.

[–] dephyre@lemmy.world 79 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Wait a second, you mean the states that continuously divert money away from education, healthcare, public works, infrastructure and everything that would possibly make the people who live there's lives better aren't very nice to live in?!

(Live in TN btw, and yea that list tracks)

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 8 points 6 hours ago

you mean the states that continuously divert money away from education, healthcare, public works, infrastructure and everything

Hey now! You take that back!

Lots of these states are building out enormous prison networks. Does that count for nothing?!

[–] RustyShackleford@piefed.social 35 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

[–] thesohoriots@lemmy.world 94 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

Sucks to suck.

[–] luibh@lemmy.world 37 points 18 hours ago (4 children)

Living in Indiana, there are some parts that aren't too bad, but overall it does suck.

[–] adarza@lemmy.ca 45 points 17 hours ago

best thing to come out of indiana is I-94

[–] ilinamorato@lemmy.world 9 points 14 hours ago

Former Hoosier here (Indy). I miss the people we left behind in Indiana, but I do not by any means miss the government. Braun is a wannabe Trump whose only saving grace is that he's really bad at it.

[–] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 9 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

"Crime" is your state's sole strength, apparently.

[–] interrobang@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Bloomington is pretty great

[–] stankcheez@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago

Bohemian college towns tend to be pretty cool. Bloomington definitely doesn’t fit the standard Indiana mold

[–] kmartburrito@lemmy.world 12 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

[–] thinkercharmercoderfarmer@slrpnk.net 13 points 17 hours ago

LMAO the vast majority of the population there can't afford food or housing or healthcare because they're the first places to fall into the grip of a christofascist coup that's trying to take over the entire US government and making a pretty good go of it so far. What a bunch of rubes.

[–] thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works 24 points 15 hours ago (3 children)

As a non-American I’m not fully versed on the qualities of all the states - but I am still surprised that Mississippi is somehow not listed here; how can it possibly be outperforming some of these other states?!

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 4 points 5 hours ago

I just always assume Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi are always 48, 49, and 50 in any list, in no particular order.

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 4 points 6 hours ago

Maybe they just escaped true top ten list by being number eleven.

[–] stringere@sh.itjust.works 28 points 15 hours ago (3 children)

They did an amazing job turning education around after covid.

[–] Omgpwnies@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Quality and quantity of education are leading indicators of the overall trajectory of a region. Everything else follows. More educated people demand better services and more educated people are capable of providing those better services. Better educated people vote for candidates who are able to create better policies driven by data and research. All of this creates positive feedback loops as long as the quality and quantity of education is kept up. If that slips, all of the above will also eventually degrade.

[–] stringere@sh.itjust.works 1 points 21 minutes ago

as long as the quality and quantity of education is kept up. If that slips, all of the above will also eventually degrade

Which is exactly what's happened across a lot of the US.

[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 5 points 7 hours ago

Unexpected good news. Well done.

[–] thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works 14 points 14 hours ago

Oh, damn - they have too!

Go, you good thing! 📣

[–] Madzielle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 44 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (1 children)

On one hand I dont like these list, because even if everyone was doing their best, someone will always be at the bottom.

On the other hand, I mean, what did you expect. These list have always been a thing, and these places are always at the bottom by a far margin, why bitch now?

[–] thinkercharmercoderfarmer@slrpnk.net 32 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

They have to disclaim it as leftist propaganda because to do otherwise would leave room for the upper class to possibly start feeling some empathy for the poor. These states are all places where christian fascism has its strongest grip, and part of maintaining that grip is constantly insisting that all problems that exist in the glorious uberstate are either A) the fault of non-whites / non-christians / gays / communists etc., or B) not really problems, just the fevered imaginings of the Liberal Media that Hates America. Am I gonna listen to what NBC, a company from New York City, has to say about my state? C'mon now.

A huge number of upper class Tennesseans will take any fig leaf offered that lets them believe that everything is mostly fine in TN, just a few ragtag "urban types" making things difficult for the rest of us. It makes it a lot easier to convince yourself that your lifestyle has no negative consequences, it's just lazy poors who don't work as hard at their dad's gravel company as you do.

It's a shitty and self-sustaining situation, which is why articles like these rarely have much impact. We've all already decided who we're gonna blame when stuff like this gets aired, and we just go through the same motions when it does.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 18 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

People forgot those Pace Picante commercials when all the cowboys yell in angry unison when the new cowboy reveals his salsa was made in...

"NEW YORK CITY!?!?!?"

[–] thinkercharmercoderfarmer@slrpnk.net 9 points 16 hours ago

For the longest time I just thought "New York City" was what everyone called it to differentiate it from the state. I didn't know it wasn't used by people from NYC until I was a teenager / young adult. Similarly, I didn't know that it was kind of a disparagement. Once I started paying attention to it I noticed that if the city is being referred to in a positive or neutral context, it's usually "New York" or NYC (pronounced en-why-see), but if it's a negative context then it's much more likely to be called "New York City". Like calling a wayward child by their full name.

[–] Canconda@lemmy.ca 43 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (1 children)

Someone plot every states score on a graph, color it red/blue, and then sort by highest to lowest so we can watch red states fall off a cliff.

[–] thinkercharmercoderfarmer@slrpnk.net 14 points 17 hours ago

We're already off the cliff. And we're going to take everyone with us if we keep sliding.

[–] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 13 hours ago

The list was made to positively rank things that people in red states don't want.

[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 13 points 16 hours ago (4 children)

What is so wild is that there are movements like the one in Illinois to secede from Chicago, basically because, well, reasons.

And turn it into a new shithole state? What do these jagoffs think the real outcome is going to be once a city like Chicago is not there to subsidize them?

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[–] adarza@lemmy.ca 17 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

on the other side, nebraska and north dakota are in the top 10 best states to live in...

nebraska: Strengths: Health, Air Quality Weaknesses: Reproductive Rights, Inclusiveness

north dakota: Strengths: Childcare, Health, Air Quality, Crime Weaknesses: Worker Protections, Reproductive Rights

i don't think they're taking enough off for those 'weaknesses'.

massachusetts, virginia, new hampshire, hawaii, connecticut, minnesota, new jersey, and maine are the other states in that list. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/11/best-states-to-live-in-america-2026.html

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[–] Fishnoodle@lemmy.world 13 points 18 hours ago

Damn, that's the most accurate MSM list I've seen in a long fucking time.

[–] randompasta@lemmy.today 7 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

How the fuck is Mississippi not on that list?? Or is it S tier of bd states that they're so far beyond the list that the writers didn't bother.

[–] OwOarchist@pawb.social 11 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (2 children)

How the fuck is Mississippi not on that list?

They've always been a shithole state, but they've really stagnated in their shitholery lately, while states like Texas and Florida have been innovating new ways of being shit and really disrupting the shithole state space. If you really want to make it into the top shithole state list, you can't just lean back and relax on your Jim Crow legacy -- build some data centers right next to poor neighborhoods, give rich corporations a negative tax rate, force school children to recite the 14 words at the beginning and end of each school day. Those are the kinds of innovative shitholery that could get Mississippi back into the runnings for #1 worst state.

[–] vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 hours ago

Yeah Mississippi is more or less a shithole by circumstance nowadays, most of these other states are actively trying to be more shithole. Also Mississippi is trying to reform itself somewhat, namely their education system. Would actually be funny if Mississippi reformed so thoroughly that the only thing keeping them from the top ten best states is their geography.

[–] randompasta@lemmy.today 2 points 14 hours ago

They're so bad at being bad they're not the worst anymore.

[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 5 points 16 hours ago

LOL, what did they expect?

Why do people think that California Derangement Syndrome is so prevalent among the redcaps?

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