Pennsylvania Named 10th Best State to Live In

Pennsylvania made the top 10 best states to live in, according to WalletHub, which attributes the state’s quality of life, safety and education and health to its high ranking. 

Out of 100 points, the Keystone State scored 57.90 – less than three points away from the top state (Massachusetts, 60.23). 

“Pennsylvania has something to offer for everyone,” says PAR President Bill Lublin. “Beautiful parks, charming small towns, vibrant cities, historic sites and everything in between. It’s really a great state to live in with plenty to see and do.” 

Notably, it ranked fifth in the quality-of-life category, which measured things like: 

• Average hours worked per week and average commute time 
• Miles of trails for bicycling and walking 
• Restaurants, bars, museums, fitness centers, performing arts centers and movie theaters per capita 
• Traffic congestion 
• Weather and air quality 

In the safety category, the state ranked 11th – a significant rank highlighting Pennsylvania’s: 

• Low violent crime rate 
• Low property crime rate 
• Low traffic-related fatalities per capita 
• Total law-enforcement employees per capita 

And it ranked 17th in the education and health category, which included factors such as: 

• Quality of public school systems 
• High school graduation rate 
• Share of insured population 
• Pre-mature death rate 
• Life expectancy 

In the remaining categories, Pennsylvania ranked 29th in affordability and 35th in economy.