Arizona doesn’t get kind ranking for how the state is run
Dec 9, 2016, 5:50 AM | Updated: 2:29 pm
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
PHOENIX — It’s called the United States of America, but let’s face it, every state in the country is completely different from each other.
There are different accents, different lifestyles, different ways of thinking, different laws and different ways of running the state.
One recent study took a look at the best and worst run states in the country, and Arizona didn’t get too kind of a ranking.
Arizona was named the 35th best run state in the country, based on four main categories: Debt per capita, unemployment rate, credit rating and poverty.
The Grand Canyon state’s two worst categories were their 2015 unemployment rate, good for tied 8th for highest at 6.1 percent, and poverty, which was 8th highest on its own at 17.4 percent.
Arizona’s 6.1% annual unemployment rate is nearly the highest in the country. Not only are residents more like to be unemployed than in other other states, but those unemployed workers receive less financial support than in most of the country. The average weekly unemployment insurance payout is only $223, nearly the lowest of any state and well below the $334 national average. In addition, 41% of those receiving unemployment insurance exhaust their benefits before finding a job, a far larger share than is typical.
Despite the state’s problems, conditions in Arizona have improved considerably. Arizona was the third most poorly run state in the country in 2010. It has climbed in the rankings steadily in recent years and now is now ranked higher than it has been in any of the last seven years.
North Dakota topped the list for the best run state in the country for the survey’s fifth straight year. New Mexico was named the worst run state.
