New Jersey named the best state to live in

It's true! New Jersey is the best state to live in, according to personal finance website WalletHub's report on 2021's "Best States to Live in."

Analyst Jill Gonzalez said to help Americans settle down in the best and most affordable place possible, WalletHub compared all 50 states across 52 key indicators of livability. That ranged from housing costs and income growth to the education rate, quality of hospitals and safety.

She said New Jersey came out on top at number one, scoring very high in the safety, health care and education categories.

Right now, New Jersey has one of the lowest crime rates as a state.

It also got a huge plus with the way it dealt with COVID-19 and its safety.

She said when it comes to education, New Jersey has some of the best-ranked public schools in the country. Because of that, it has one of the highest high school graduation rates in the nation.

New Jersey also has a very good public hospital system.

"After the last couple of years, this is something that people are looking for a little bit more than they were in the past," Gonzalez said.

However, it's still not affordable to live in New Jersey in terms of property taxes and housing costs. But Gonzalez said there is that aspect of "you get what you pay for." That's why things like education and health care are so great in the Garden State because they have more of that tax money being reinvested into it, she said.

New Jersey's economy could also be better. Gonzalez said coming out COVID-19, it has some recovering to do. But what New Jersey did was make sure people were healthy and safe before reopening.

She believes things like the unemployment rate will improve, maybe within the next couple of months.

While New Jersey is the number one state for people to settle down in this year, Massachusetts is the second best state, according to the report. New York is third followed by Idaho and Minnesota. Neighboring state Pennsylvania ranked tenth.

New Mexico is the worst state to live in followed by Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina.

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Just saying the names of these towns immediately conjures up images of grand mansions, luxury cars, and ritzy restaurants. Read on to see which town in your home state took the title of the richest location and which place had the highest median income in the country. Who knows—your hometown might even be on this list.

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Stacker compiled a list of the best places to live in New Jersey using data from Niche. Niche ranks places to live based on a variety of factors including cost of living, schools, health care, recreation, and weather. Cities, suburbs, and towns were included. Listings and images are from realtor.com.

On the list, there's a robust mix of offerings from great schools and nightlife to high walkability and public parks. Some areas have enjoyed rapid growth thanks to new businesses moving to the area, while others offer glimpses into area history with well-preserved architecture and museums. Keep reading to see if your hometown made the list.

Filed Under: WalletHub