# How does your state rank... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 9, 2015, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-state-rank/717249 "2015-04-09T19:17:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fool_in_the_Rain)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-state-rank/717249/1 "2015-04-09T19:17:34Z")
According to [Wallethub.com](http://Wallethub.com)’s report - [2015’s Best & Worst States to be a Taxpayer?](http://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-states-to-be-a-taxpayer/2416/) Rhode Island is abyssmal at 48th, and as usual ranks near or at the bottom of all important rankings. It’s really depressing when you see it year after year, bad news after bad about your state - I have to move. * * * This is a local site, not necessary for response to the above, that collected data from other sites into one place, with links to the data to see other states rankings in the series of polls: [http://www.golocalprov.com/business/rhode-island-is-2015s-4th-worst-state-to-be-a-taxpayer](http://www.golocalprov.com/business/rhode-island-is-2015s-4th-worst-state-to-be-a-taxpayer) Warning - does have the clickbait style setup (1 stat per page) > [@](#): > > 10th Worst in Gallup’s Annual Ranking of State Job Markets 2014 > > Rhode Island has the highest vehicle property taxes in the country, paying an average of $1,133 according to a report from WalletHub. > > WalletHub has ranked Rhode Island as the 7th worst state to be rich in in a recent in depth analysis of 2015’s Best States to be Rich or Poor From a Tax Perspective. > > Providence-metro ranks at the bottom for job creation in 2014 > > Rhode Island has been ranked amongst the worst in job creation, according to a recent survey done by Gallup. > > The 2014 state rankings by Forbes has just been released and Rhode Island moved up two spots from #48 in 2013 to #46 in 2014. > > Tax Foundation which found Rhode Island to have the 45th best tax climate for businesses for 2015. > > Providence is the second worst city in America for small business, according to a new survey conducted by [Thumbtack.com](http://Thumbtack.com) and the Kauffman Foundation. > > The Economist > Small Business Friendliness Grade: F > The Economist grades states on an A+ to F grading scale for its small business climate. Rhode Island is one of just 6 states to earn an “F” grade. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-state-rank/717249/2 "2015-04-09T19:56:07Z")
> [@Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](#): > > According to [Wallethub.com](http://Wallethub.com)’s report - [2015’s Best & Worst States to be a Taxpayer?](http://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-states-to-be-a-taxpayer/2416/) After taking a look at their methodology, I’m not sure that study is worth the electrons it’s printed on. Especially because they don’t even try to analyze the quality of the services provided by each state. But consider that they use one value for median house prices across the entire US rather than the (admittedly not much better) median house price within a state. I think they’re wildly understating the property taxes you’d pay in California and Massachusetts. ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-state-rank/717249/3 "2015-04-09T20:32:00Z")
I haven’t checked according to _that_ particular metric but David Sirota recently called my state out for having THE most-regressive tax structure in the COUNTRY (I could scarcely believe it). Coupled with how poorly my state funds higher education - well, I won’t say I wanna MOVE 'cause I’ve lived here most of my life and I love the state I live in, but finding those things out was VERY disappointing to me, to say the least. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-state-rank/717249/4 "2015-04-10T00:30:57Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > After taking a look at their methodology, I’m not sure that study is worth the electrons it’s printed on. Especially because they don’t even try to analyze the quality of the services provided by each state. But consider that they use one value for median house prices across the entire US rather than the (admittedly not much better) median house price within a state. I think they’re wildly understating the property taxes you’d pay in California and Massachusetts. California property taxes are tricky to figure. Because of Proposition 13, two houses with identical current values can have wildly different property tax assessments, depending on how long the current owners have been living there. For me, my property taxes are quite low – I’ve been living in my house almost 20 years. I know my neighbors in very similar houses pay much more. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-state-rank/717249/5 "2015-04-10T01:43:49Z")
Appears to be a fairly worthless poll and appears to have a political agenda to my eye. Using Cigarette taxes as an indicator is just a bad joke anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-state-rank/717249/6 "2015-04-10T01:50:32Z")
> [@](#): > > I haven’t checked according to that particular metric but David Sirota recently called my state out for having THE most-regressive tax structure in the COUNTRY (I could scarcely believe it). Coupled with how poorly my state funds higher education - well, I won’t say I wanna MOVE 'cause I’ve lived here most of my life and I love the state I live in, but finding those things out was VERY disappointing to me, to say the least. > Reply With Quote Where in Washington State do you live? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-state-rank/717249/7 "2015-04-10T04:11:25Z")
39 ------- and I’m surprised it isn’t lower. ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-state-rank/717249/8 "2015-04-10T04:15:16Z")
> [@Daylate](#): > > Where in Washington State do you live? Very good! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-state-rank/717249/9 "2015-04-10T05:14:55Z")
I’m in Illinois, and I correctly guessed its rank before I looked. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-state-rank/717249/10 "2015-04-10T10:31:13Z")
Maryland does have pretty high income tax, and they’re not kind to retirees in that regard. On the other hand, our county does an amazing job of keeping the roads clear when it snows, and they’re pretty good at prompt road repair, so at least that part of my taxes are well-spent. In any case, I’m not moving. I like where I live and I’ll budget accordingly. There’s more to life than what you pay in taxes. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-state-rank/717249/11 "2015-04-10T12:28:35Z")
This concept that the only good tax is a dead tax is simply bullshit. There are an awful lot of other considerations that come into play with taxes, for example quality of government and infrastructure. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-state-rank/717249/12 "2015-04-10T13:15:08Z")
Our best asset is the short distance to another state. Here’s how I described the state in a post long ago: I live in Cumberland Rhode Island. We are seperated from the mainland by a sea of ignorance. Nothing much happens here at all. We go shopping at a mall called Massachusetts. The retirement system for former mayors and governors is a minimum security factility in Connecticut.