Virginia 4th best state to make a living
By Brian Kirwin | Thursday, April 14th, 2011 |The adjusted-average income for Virginia worked out to $41,120.49, helped by high average wages and a relatively low unemployment rate.
That’s what Money Rates said in its study of the 50 states in analyzing where is the best place to make a living.
Judging from average wages, tax structure, employment and cost of living, we rank higher than 46 other states!
Good work, Governor McDonnell!
Sorry, Chris Christie – New Jersey ranked 46th.
Michigan? Not even in the top 10.
North Carolina? You’re in the half that made the top half possible.
California made the Final Four – the BOTTOM four!
Article is here and full 50-state ranking is here.
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About the author
The right wants to jeer him. The left wants to censor him. Moderates usually want both. Brian Kirwin is a political consultant and public relations strategist in Virginia Beach with a lightning-rod flair. Brian also serves on the VB Arts & Humanities Commission and frequently appears on Hampton Roads theatrical stages, if only to prove that all actors aren’t liberals. Kirwin’s columns stir up debate and hit the political scene with no punches pulled.
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13 Responses to "Virginia 4th best state to make a living"
Kudos to the McDonnell administration for avoiding the tragedy that would have been had Tim Kaine’s atrocious tax hike become the order of the day. Because of McDonnell and the Republican House of Delegate’s, Virginia can make the claim that we’re #4 – imagine how that number changes with increased taxes!
As for your swipe at Michigan, they’re number 13 – better than Pennsylvania!
Umm any ranking where debt ridden IL leads the parade of statehood wonderfulness is straight out of … I’m searching for the correct analogy .. Fantasy Island, Bizarro World or maybe Louis XV?
“The five states in the worst financial condition–Illinois, New York, Connecticut, California and New Jersey–are all among the bluest of blue states.” Forbes
Or maybe IL is a great place until it collapses.
I guess the trucking industry results detracted from the overall then.
Forgive me for fixating. I am trying to get my own trucking business started and I am starting to realize that I am going to have to pay a penalty that most of my competitors do not because I am based in Virginia. Virginia is going to shoot me in the foot before I walk onto the battlefield.
I bet you a lot of Virginia’s earning comes from Federal employees. If you get what you want I’ll wager we move right down the list.
i agree a lot of federal spending supports Virginia. As with the deficit, Virginia should set the example and be a leader on the deficit.
Voluntarily accept no federal spending in our state!! That’s right if we “just say no” (Ron’s old drug theme) to federally borrowed funds, we can cut the deficit, stop China while saving our children’s future. We can be a #1 out of 50 states! I’ll bet Ohio with the House Speaker Bohner would gladly join us as #2.
Why settle for #4 when Virginia can be #1?
The Commonwealth of Virginia is doing comparitively well on state finances. That doesn’t mean there aren’t real problems to deal with like pensions and benefits. Unemployment is better than many states, but we’re still hurting. This economy is beating us down a bit too. Hampton Roads fighting with other regions for our share of transportation funding or representation during redistricting processes, should be more evidence that this isn’t “Candyland”.
Virginia has every reason to be thankful for high rankings, but let’s not forget whom we are being ranked against. There are still many reeal problems to be faced.
Virginia has only 2.5% of the entire county’s population yet it accounts for 5% of the total in federal spending. Deficit reduction is our #1 goal.
So, lets take 5% off the top with Virginia and see what the rest of the country has to say!
William,
Can you post a link to who tabulated the 5% statistic. I’d be curious to see if it includes military installations and military employees, government spending on contractors, and civilian employees in the state. Or does the statistic just include money distributed to the states.
I think we might be higher that 5% when all is said and done, but I’m just guessing.
This result is good and did not just happen. Why pretend Gov. Bob did all of this work and get the credit. It started before him with Gov. Kaine and othet governors before Tim.
The 5% federal spending came from an 14 April 2011 AP News report that reported how republican were “anti fed spending” but continued to willinglly accept all the federal money they could get. It didn’t tabulate the totals or detail the data.
I didn’t feel it was a good idea to post that entire article here as most BD folks wouldn’t find it to their liking.
Bill, when did you start caring what BD folks like?
Hey, by 5:50 PM the Virginian-Pilot suddenly found this story and reported on it.
http://hamptonroads.com/2011/04/virginia-ranks-no-4-salaries-study-says
Wonder where they heard about it……
The article is not news, but the reactions of BD commentators in really hilarious. Despite constant protestations to the contrary, all Brian really cares about is one upmanship of the Pilot, even while he denies he is attempting to be a journalist. And J.R., a guy who on occasion refuses to sink to the depths of most posters, does so this time, making an inane comment to imply that we were 50th under Kaine by made a miraculous recovery with McDonnell. Was your tongue firmly implanted in your cheek?
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