Massachusetts Is #1 State In the U.S. For This And It's Awesome!

Whenever I hear a little GOOD news, I like to spread the joy among my Berkshire County family and friends. And let me tell you, this is truly some excellent news I think you'll be happy to hear!

According to WalletHub, the personal finance website, the Commonwealth performs very well in its latest study. As a matter of fact, Massachusetts tops the list at #1! Are you ready to hear what for? I thought so!

WalletHub always puts together great studies and state-by-state rankings, and this one is no exception. It's been 2023 for a few months now and WalletHub has published its list of 2023's Best and Worst States to Raise a Family and as I already mentioned Massachusetts is #1!

To come up with the results for the best states to raise a family, WalletHub compared all 50 states across several family-friendly indicators such as infant mortality rate, separation rate, divorce rate, percentage of families with young children, violent crime, housing affordability, etc.

Now interestingly enough, Massachusetts did not rank #1 in any of the individual key metrics but ranked high enough or performed well enough in the majority of them to grab #1 overall.

As a matter of fact, the highest Massachusetts ranked in any of the key categories was #2 in the category for "Percentage of Residents Aged 12+ Who Are Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19".

Out of the 5 major metrics, Massachusetts ranks in the top 10 in 4 of them: "Family Fun", "Health & Safety", "Education & Child Care", and "Affordability". And even in the final major metric, "Socio-economics", Massachusetts still did fairly well with a placing at #22.

Here are the official Best States to Raise a Family in 2023 according to WalletHub:

Massachusetts
Minnesota
New York
North Dakota
Vermont
New Hampshire
New Jersey
Nebraska
Iowa
Connecticut

And with Rhode Island at #11 and Maine at #16, I'd say New England is a pretty good region to raise a family, wouldn't you? And in case you were wondering, the worst state to raise a family is the state of Mississippi.

Believe me, there is a lot more to check out in this study. Take a look for yourself by visiting WalletHub's website here.

LOOK: The most expensive weather and climate disasters in recent decades

Stacker ranked the most expensive climate disasters by the billions since 1980 by the total cost of all damages, adjusted for inflation, based on 2021 data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The list starts with Hurricane Sally, which caused $7.3 billion in damages in 2020, and ends with a devastating 2005 hurricane that caused $170 billion in damage and killed at least 1,833 people. Keep reading to discover the 50 of the most expensive climate disasters in recent decades in the U.S.

LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

READ ON: See the States Where People Live the Longest

Stacker used data from the 2020 County Health Rankings to rank every state's average life expectancy from lowest to highest. The 2020 County Health Rankings values were calculated using mortality counts from the 2016-2018 National Center for Health Statistics. The U.S. Census 2019 American Community Survey and America's Health Rankings Senior Report 2019 data were also used to provide demographics on the senior population of each state and the state's rank on senior health care, respectively.

Read on to learn the average life expectancy in each state.

LOOK: What major laws were passed the year you were born?

Data for this list was acquired from trusted online sources and news outlets. Read on to discover what major law was passed the year you were born and learn its name, the vote count (where relevant), and its impact and significance.