Richest and poorest states in U.S.

[Red in Chicago]

Who knew Minnesota was number 10?

http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/103432/The-Richest-(and-Poorest)-Places-in-the-U.S.?mod=oneclick

[pedro]

Who knew Minnesota was number 10?

http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/103432/The-Richest-(and-Poorest)-Places-in-the-U.S.?mod=oneclick

link doesn't work RIC.

[15fan]

think this (http://www.census.gov/prod/2007pubs/acs-08.pdf) is the publication that contains the data.

See pages 4 & 5 of the report to see how your state fared.

[Red in Chicago]

link doesn't work RIC.

Weird, it works when I click on it. Sorry.

[pedro]

Weird, it works when I click on it. Sorry.

works now...

[MWM]

Who knew Minnesota was number 10?

http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/103432/The-Richest-(and-Poorest)-Places-in-the-U.S.?mod=oneclick

As a resident of Minnesota, I'm a little surprised it's not higher. NOt many people realize that there are 19 Fortune 500 copmanies located in the Twin Cities area. There's a perception that this a smaller city. It isn't. The population base in Minny highly educated and there's a lot of money here.

[pedro]

As a resident of Minnesota, I'm a little surprised it's not higher. NOt many people realize that there are 19 Fortune 500 copmanies located in the Twin Cities area. There's a perception that this a smaller city. It isn't. The population base in Minny highly educated and there's a lot of money here.

I haven't spent a lot of time there but it seems like a pretty nice place to me.

[MWM]

I haven't spent a lot of time there but it seems like a pretty nice place to me.

We love it. It's exceeded all expectations we had coming in.

[edabbs44]

I'm surprised that Connecticut wasn't #1 with all the hedge fund money up there.

But happy that Jersey got #2.

[cincinnati chili]

The other side of income is cost of living. All of the states in the top ten in income have a more expensive cost of living than most places in the country:

http://ded.mo.gov/researchandplanning/indicators/cost_of_living/index.stm

Minnesota does seem affordable, being in the top 10 in income and in the middle of the pack for cost of living.

The only reason we didn't consider Minnesota is the weather. My wife is from Maine, but she found the weather to be obnoxiously cold in St. Paul during the year she lived there.

I have another friend who grew up in Rochester, NY (which I associate with BAD weather). He says that Minnesota is hotter in the summer and colder in the winter.

MWM is this a fair criticism? I only visited once (on a college tour almost 2 decades ago). As one who likes to be outside, likes the sunshine, weather was a key factor in our coming back to Colorado.

There are NOT a lot of fortune 500 companies in the state, but a lot of mid-sized companies. We have the 13th highest median income and only the 21st highest cost of living. It ain't cheap here, but it's doable.

[pedro]

We love it. It's exceeded all expectations we had coming in.

Glad to hear that MWM.

[Betterread]

The other side of income is cost of living. All of the states in the top ten in income have a more expensive cost of living than most places in the country:

http://ded.mo.gov/researchandplanning/indicators/cost_of_living/index.stm

Minnesota does seem affordable, being in the top 10 in income and in the middle of the pack for cost of living.

The only reason we didn't consider Minnesota is the weather. My wife is from Maine, but she found the weather to be obnoxiously cold in St. Paul during the year she lived there.

I have another friend who grew up in Rochester, NY (which I associate with BAD weather). He says that Minnesota is hotter in the summer and colder in the winter.

MWM is this a fair criticism? I only visited once (on a college tour almost 2 decades ago). As one who likes to be outside, likes the sunshine, weather was a key factor in our coming back to Colorado.

There are NOT a lot of fortune 500 companies in the state, but a lot of mid-sized companies. We have the 13th highest median income and only the 21st highest cost of living. It ain't cheap here, but it's doable.

I lived for a long time in both New England and in Minnesota. Minnesota's winters are longer and have more snow than New England (with the exception of northern NY, vermont, etc.) . They last from Late November to early April, though they have been pretty mild the last 5 years. I'm not sure the summers are warmer, but they are a lot more humid. In comparison with Colorado, the climate and the topography do not flatter the midwest. Obviously, theRockies are more picturesque than the great plains (not the only type of topography in Minnesota, but still it's not a state known for great natural sceneries).
While this may not show Minnesota to advantage, you should be aware that Minnesota has 510 golf courses to Colorado's 247. So obviously, even though Coloradans are blessed with land of tremendous natural beauty, only a certain number of them have the right idea how to use and enjoy that land properly.

[cincinnati chili]

I don't play golf so that doesn't bother me, but with only 4.3 million residents in Colorado, I imagine that 247 courses amounts to plenty of golf courses per capita.

What am I saying?... It sucks here in Colorado... Don't move here.

[GoReds33]

I don't play golf so that doesn't bother me, but with only 4.3 million residents in Colorado, I imagine that 247 courses amounts to plenty of golf courses per capita.

What am I saying?... It sucks here in Colorado... Don't move here.Thanks for the advice. I want to move to Gatlinburg, or Key West. But then again, who doesn't?:)

[pedro]

Just don't move here. It rains all the time. In fact it's raining right now. And the beer? Nothing but disgusting handcrafted micro brews. Where's that can of Wiedemann's when you need it? ;)

[Betterread]

Just don't move here. It rains all the time. In fact it's raining right now. And the beer? Nothing but disgusting handcrafted micro brews. Where's that can of Wiedemann's when you need it? ;)
I can find Coors Lite - it's sold everywhere. But the rain, that is harder to find. Harder yet are skiing conditions better than Breckenridge. My favorite skiing spot in the US.

[GoReds33]

Just don't move here. It rains all the time. In fact it's raining right now. And the beer? Nothing but disgusting handcrafted micro brews. Where's that can of Wiedemann's when you need it? ;)If its that bad move here. Since you like the Reds that gives you a head start. I wouldn't move here though. The sports suck, except high school football, the Bengals, and the Bearcats.:)

[pedro]

If its that bad move here. Since you like the Reds that gives you a head start. I wouldn't move here though. The sports suck, except high school football, the Bengals, and the Bearcats.:)

If I ever do move back there I can guarantee it won't be for the football.

[MWM]

The other side of income is cost of living. All of the states in the top ten in income have a more expensive cost of living than most places in the country:

http://ded.mo.gov/researchandplanning/indicators/cost_of_living/index.stm

Minnesota does seem affordable, being in the top 10 in income and in the middle of the pack for cost of living.

The only reason we didn't consider Minnesota is the weather. My wife is from Maine, but she found the weather to be obnoxiously cold in St. Paul during the year she lived there.

I have another friend who grew up in Rochester, NY (which I associate with BAD weather). He says that Minnesota is hotter in the summer and colder in the winter.

MWM is this a fair criticism? I only visited once (on a college tour almost 2 decades ago). As one who likes to be outside, likes the sunshine, weather was a key factor in our coming back to Colorado.

There are NOT a lot of fortune 500 companies in the state, but a lot of mid-sized companies. We have the 13th highest median income and only the 21st highest cost of living. It ain't cheap here, but it's doable.

Having never spent time in Rochester, I really can't answer. The winters here aren't all that bad most of the winter. It gets to EXTREME cold for 2-3 weeks in the Jan-Feb timeframe, but most of the winter the cold isn't all that bad. The part I have a hard time with is the month of Marcha nd early April. Living most of my life in Cincy, it always seemed to get warm in March. We saw 50s and 60s consistently by the end of March and it would generally hit 70 by mid-April. Here it didn't warm much at all in March and it was April until hit 60 degrees. So while the extreme cold wasn't all that bad in the winter, I did find the winter to drag on longer than the ower midwest. I had major cabin fever in March. This year, I'm planning a warm weather getaway for early March that should help.

The summer times here are pretty fantastic, IMO. As Betterred mentioned, it does get humid here, but I found the humidity to be milder than Ohio or east coast cities I've spent time in during the summer. I've spent the last 3 summers here and while it gets hot occasionally, it doesn't stay hot too long. I like a little heat (mid-80s is perect for me), so I love the weather here in the summer. And Bettered is right about the golf. And I'm a bigtime golfer. The golf here is phenomenal.

And I absolutely LOVE the lakes. They're are around every corner it seems (there's 293 in my county alone). And they're beautiful and fun to spend time on. They have lots of great swimming beaches.

One of the things I've loved about the summers is just how active the population is here. I lived in souther Ohio most of my life and I never saw people out and about anywhere near as much as here. People are out all over the place. I've never seen so many people out on bikes, walking their dogs, jogging, etc.. It's contagious. I spent more time outside the past couple years than I ever had. There's more to do here in the summer than anywhere else I've been as well. There's walking and riding trails around a lot of the lakes and the Mississippi River, and through all the towns. I live in a small town about 30 miles west of Minneapolis, and right around the corner from my house I can get onto walking trails that go all over the place. We go on walks and bike rides all the time with the family. It's like this pretty much everywhere you live here. It really caters to an active lifestyle, especially for families.

The quality of life here is fantastic. My wife and I have talked that we could see ourselves planting our roots here and staying here long term.

[registerthis]

Whoo-hoo, Maryland at number one. Clearly, they'll take a hit next year now that I've moved out.

Maryland's placement is due largely to the existence of Montgomery County and the overall prosperity of the D.C. region. Which leads to the inevitable question: why am I not benefitting from any of this? :)