Politics & Government

Maryland: Low Poverty, Perfect Credit, Debt and High Crime

Find out where Maryland ranks in list of best- and worst-run states.

How well run is the state of Maryland, and how does it rank among the 50 states?

Every year, 24/7 Wall St. tries to answer this question by conducting an extensive survey of every state. To determine how well states are managed, the website examined financial data, as well as the services states provide and their residents’ standard of living. This year, North Dakota is the best-run state in the country for the second year in a row, while California is the worst-run for the third year in a row.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE BEST- AND WORST-RUN STATES.

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Many of the best-run states in the nation benefit from an abundance of natural resources, according to the Huffington Post. North Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska, and Texas, among the best-run states, are all among the states with the greatest concentration of GDP in the mining industry, which includes oil and natural gas extraction, as well as coal mining.

The housing crisis has had a major negative impact on a number of the worst-run states. It caused a drastic decline in construction employment in states like Arizona, California, and Nevada. Many of these lost jobs have yet to be replaced, Huffington Post said.

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To determine how well the states are run, 24/7 Wall St. looked at each state’s debt, revenue, expenditure, and deficit to determine how well it was managed fiscally. The authors reviewed taxes, exports, GDP growth, poverty, income, unemployment, high school graduation, violent crime and foreclosure rates to assess the well-being of the state’s residents.

Maryland falls in the middle of the national rankings at No. 24.

Maryland
Debt per capita: $4,348 (13th highest)
Budget deficit: 9.5% (28th largest)
Unemployment: 6.8% (tied-17th lowest)
Median household income: $71,122 (the highest)
Pct. below poverty line: 10.3% (3rd lowest)

Here is how 24/7 Wall St. describes the state: 

Maryland’s population is the wealthiest in the country. The state had a median household income of $71,122 last year, nearly $20,000 higher than the U.S. median. Also, just 10.3% of the population lived below the poverty line. The state had a relatively large amount of debt, at approximately 60% of annual revenue as of fiscal 2011, compared to 50% nationwide. Still, Maryland maintains a perfect credit rating from both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. Moody’s credited the wealthy tax base as a factor for its rating, as well as the state’s “history of strong financial management.” One negative factor is the state’s high violent crime rate, which was one of the highest in the country last year.


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