Forbes: R.I. 10th worst state to make a living

FORBES SAID Rhode Island is the 10th worst state to make a living. / COURTESY FORBES
FORBES SAID Rhode Island is the 10th worst state to make a living. / COURTESY FORBES

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island is the 10th worst state to make a living, according to Forbes.
With a median income of $39,050, unemployment rate of 5.4 percent and state tax on median income of $1,464.38, Rhode Island ended up on the wrong end of Forbes’ list of the best and worst states to make a living.
Forbes, in an article on its website, said states looking to land on the positive end of this annual ranking should offer healthy wages, manageable taxes, a low cost of living and safe working environments.
“Employment conditions in the U.S. have improved dramatically in recent years but not all job markets are created equally,” Richard Barrington, senior financial analyst for MoneyRates.com and study author, said in a statement. “Unemployment rates in some states are twice as high as others, state tax rates for cost of living take very different bites out of your paycheck depending on where you are, and workplace conditions are different from one place to the next.”
MoneyRates.com looked at average wages, taxes, cost of living, unemployment rate and incidents of workplace safety incidents for each state, drawing on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Council for Community and Economic Research and the Tax Foundation.
Based on that criteria, Wyoming is the best state to make a living.
Wyoming has a median annual wage of $38,280, 5.2 percent unemployment and no state income tax.
“When you look at Wyoming just in terms of unemployment, they’re actually around average, slightly below – not a hot hot job market but not cold either,” Barrington said. “The median income in Wyoming is higher than in the typical state, so you’re taking in more money. The cost of living is significantly lower than the national average so the money you take in is going further, and then finally, there’s no state income tax, so you get to keep what you make. That’s a powerful combination.”
Washington and Virginia rounded out the top three best states to make a living.
The worst state? Hawaii.
“Just about everything in Hawaii has to be imported from somewhere so that just really jacks the cost up tremendously,” Barrington said.

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