Personal finance website WalletHub has ranked this year's Best and Worst States for jobs.

New Jersey ranks fifth best among all 50 states when it comes to finding a job, according to analyst, Jill Gonzalez. She says it really comes down to the state's economic environment.

She says New Jersey has a great monthly starting salary with the average being around $3,500, ranking fourth in the nation. "That high number is trending throughout the tenure of a career here because the annual household income is in the top 10 at about $60,000," says Gonzalez.

Also, the percentage of the workforce living below the poverty line in New Jersey is one of the smallest numbers in the country, below 5 percent, she adds.

While the Garden State is a wonderful state to find work, it could still use a boost in some other areas. "Workers in New Jersey typically work a longer work week than those in other states, just above average, coming in at 39 hours per week, ranking 26th," Gonzalez says.

Another area where New Jersey could do better is employment growth, which is at 1 percent year over year. Gonzalez hopes that number grows to 2 or 3 percent. That's where the top states are doing right now.

When it comes to things like employee benefits and employees with private health insurance, that number is around 81 percent in New Jersey, ranking 23rd, slightly above average.

Gonzalez says when it comes to the part-time to full-time job ratio, the idea is to see more full-time workers. "In New Jersey, there are more full-time workers and that really does help with the overall household income and making sure that the poverty rate stays pretty low."

New Jersey ranks the best for jobs in the tri-state area with Delaware ranking 27th and Pennsylvania coming in 40th.

Overall, the best state to find a job is Washington, followed by Colorado, New Hampshire and South Dakota. The worst? Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana and West Virginia coming in dead last.

Jen Ursillo is the midday news anchor on New Jersey 101.5. You can reach her at Jen.Ursillo@townsquaremedia.com

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