Louisiana ranks 43rd for future livability by Gallup

According to a new analysis by Gallup, Louisiana belongs among the 10 worst states in which you could live in the future. Louisiana is ranked No. 43 in the report, which names Utah, Minnesota and Colorado as the top three states for Americans to consider moving to down the road. West Virginia got the lowest ranking, followed by Mississippi and Kentucky. Gallup says it conducted more than 530,000 interviews with U.S. adults between January 2011 and June 30 to complete the report. In it, each state is given a composite score between 1 and 50—with 1 signifying the best and 50 the worst—based on scores on 13 metrics focused on resident happiness and health. The metrics include economic confidence; ease of finding clean water; healthy work environment; availability of new learning opportunities; perceptions that your residence is “getting better”; evaluations of life five years from now; job creation; standard of living momentum; self-reported obesity rates; ease of finding a safe place to exercise; visits to the dentist; full-time employment; and smoking rates. Louisiana’s composite score is 33.3. Top-ranked Utah scored a 7.5 and bottom-ranked West Virginia got a 43.3. Check out the complete report and rankings here.