State Rankings

[Dale]

Oklahoma 43rd best state to live in ? What are your thoughts on this ? To contrast, another survey says OKC is the 8th best run city …

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/utah

[April in the Plaza]

Oh Jesus Christ. Here we go.

[Dale]

Relax, not a flame. I’m a little shocked by the ranking and eager to hear feedback. I do realize surveys like this can be a little arbitrary in the metrics they weight.

[gjl]

I think anyone can make rankings fit what ever agenda they have going on.

[Dale]

True, this one seems to consistently rank OK near the bottom. Alaska #50. My son and daughter-in-law are moving there and couldn’t be happier about it.

[Rover]

When you look at what goes into the ranking it doesn’t seem that far off. We rank nearly last in every objective measure for health and education, and are strong economically by being cheap, not productive. Hard to argue. Most Oklahomans are okay with this though and aren’t willing to do what it takes to improve the whole society in OK.

[catch22]

Honestly, anecdotal but that seems about right on both fronts from my experience as an ex-pat who talks to people when I know they have recently been to Oklahoma. In that regard, everyone I tend to run into who has been through Oklahoma or at least can point to Oklahoma on the map has a fairly dim view of the state and typically lumps it in with Mississippi and Arkansas. Most of the gripes are weather, politics, and general stereotypes which may or not be accurate (every state does, it's not really anything to get worked up over). And of the same set of people who has traveled through Oklahoma City usually have a much better opinion of the city itself. Along the lines of: The Brickyard (sic -- usually requires a correction) District is very nice, the downtown is very cool, the people are extremely friendly, there was no traffic and surprisingly a lot of things to see and do, the Memorial was very well done, a lot of great local restaurants, etc.

[Dale]

Affordability is the new hip. And why should surveys like this weight the impressions of visitors ? People passing through may not like Okie politics, but most Okies do.

[Rover]

This right here is why we stay mired in backwardness on a state level. Just happy getting scraps and somebody saying how friendly we are.

By the way, uneducated and poor is not hip in anyone else’s eyes.

[dcsooner]

This right here is why we stay mired in backwardness on a state level. Just happy getting scraps and somebody saying how friendly we are.

By the way, uneducated and poor is not hip in anyone else’s eyes.

Yep

[Rover]

Affordability is the new hip. And why should surveys like this weight the impressions of visitors ? People passing through may not like Okie politics, but most Okies do.

People should quit blaming the information and blame the underlying data. OK is undereducated and poor. It has a huge percentage of unhealthy people who get substandard medical care. It isn’t the fact that now people know this that is the problem. Instead of feeling shame and be determined to do something about it, many Oklahomans are proud of it and want to blame the reporting of it for people being in this situation. SMH.

[dcsooner]

People should quit blaming the information and blame the underlying data. OK is undereducated and poor. It has a huge percentage of unhealthy people who get substandard medical care. It isn’t the fact that now people know this that is the problem. Instead of feeling shame and be determined to do something about it, many Oklahomans are proud of it and want to blame the reporting of it for people being in this situation. SMH.

Yep

[April in the Plaza]

Cool thread, OP

[Jersey Boss]

When you look at what goes into the ranking it doesn’t seem that far off. We rank nearly last in every objective measure for health and education, and are strong economically by being cheap, not productive. Hard to argue. Most Oklahomans are okay with this though and aren’t willing to do what it takes to improve the whole society in OK.

Word.

[dankrutka]

Any time there is any ranking of something this broad, our entire discussion should focus on the criteria used for the ranking. If we're not doing that then the discussion just devolves into people inserting their prior beliefs or feelings. What I mean is, it would be awesome if the original poster would say, "Oklahoma is ranked #43 in best state to live in" and that seems to be primarily caused by [enter explanation of criteria here].

Sorry, these types of rankings are my pet peeve because our discussions take them as fact when they are often either (a) very flawed or (b) valuing very specific criteria that is worthy of debate.

This is all aside from the fact that states are incredibly diverse places where people have incredibly different experiences based on a lot of factors from geography to identity markers to income levels. A state can be great to live in for some people and not others. These broad rankings don't always make that clear.

[jn1780]

Oklahoma 43rd best state to live in ? What are your thoughts on this ? To contrast, another survey says OKC is the 8th best run city …

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/utah

And yet Oklahoma is usually in the mid level rankings when it comes to population growth. People move from other states that already have the good education and healthcare because they don't want to pay for it and all of the sudden they become conservatives and help the existing conservatives stay in power. Its a feedback loop that the lower ranked states the bottom go through.

[Dale]

Is Oklahoma a bad state to live in because you have to live with dumb, fat people ? What if you’re fairly smart and your blood sugar’s not out of whack ? Wouldn’t the fairly robust economy and the affordability make for one of the best states ?

[Bunty]

Is Oklahoma a bad state to live in because you have to live with dumb, fat people ? What if you’re fairly smart and your blood sugar’s not out of whack ? Wouldn’t the fairly robust economy and the affordability make for one of the best states ?

Yes, but life is how you make it. If you haven't found a decent paying job in Oklahoma by the time you're in your mid 30's, then it's time to consider moving to another state to find better paying job opportunities.

[Pete]

And yet Oklahoma is usually in the mid level rankings when it comes to population growth.

Between 2010 and 2020 (the last two censuses) the US grew 7.4% and Oklahoma only grew 5.5%.

A lot of the 'growth' we see in OKC and Tulsa is merely rural people moving into the metropolitan areas and one area of cities being abandoned for the outskirts.

[Rover]

Any time there is any ranking of something this broad, our entire discussion should focus on the criteria used for the ranking. If we're not doing that then the discussion just devolves into people inserting their prior beliefs or feelings. What I mean is, it would be awesome if the original poster would say, "Oklahoma is ranked #43 in best state to live in" and that seems to be primarily caused by [enter explanation of criteria here].

Sorry, these types of rankings are my pet peeve because our discussions take them as fact when they are often either (a) very flawed or (b) valuing very specific criteria that is worthy of debate.

This is all aside from the fact that states are incredibly diverse places where people have incredibly different experiences based on a lot of factors from geography to identity markers to income levels. A state can be great to live in for some people and not others. These broad rankings don't always make that clear.

That’s what I said. Many Oklahomans are okay with our poor performance and in fact are proud of our poorly educated population and extreme politics. They point to exceptions rather than the ordinary results. Their head is in the sand so nothing is done. Be happy with poor pay, poor education, and poor health prospects for the majority of the state.

[dcsooner]

That’s what I said. Many Oklahomans are okay with our poor performance and in fact are proud of our poorly educated population and extreme politics. They point to exceptions rather than the ordinary results. Their head is in the sand so nothing is done. Be happy with poor pay, poor education, and poor health prospects for the majority of the state.

Rover!!!

[April in the Plaza]

*yawns*

[soonerguru]

*yawns*

This state is circling the drain. The only thing keeping it from being sucked into the sewer is the OKC metro, and, to a much lesser extent, Tulsa (kind of but not really with Broken Arrow). But, current leadership is doing everything it possibly can to make Oklahoma as unwelcome, inhospitable, and unlivable of a smoldering hellhole as possible.

I know several people in the medical profession, the arts, and other high-income professions who are fleeing the state in droves right now. Honestly, at my advanced age, I'm tired of arguing with idiots and would really enjoy living somewhere else, where state leadership isn't constantly trolling me and insulting my intelligence and actively working to make my life worse.

[BoulderSooner]

This state is circling the drain. The only thing keeping it from being sucked into the sewer is the OKC metro, and, to a much lesser extent, Tulsa (kind of but not really with Broken Arrow). But, current leadership is doing everything it possibly can to make Oklahoma as unwelcome, inhospitable, and unlivable of a smoldering hellhole as possible.

I know several people in the medical profession, the arts, and other high-income professions who are fleeing the state in droves right now. Honestly, at my advanced age, I'm tired of arguing with idiots and would really enjoy living somewhere else, where state leadership isn't constantly trolling me and insulting my intelligence and actively working to make my life worse.

lol ok

[April in the Plaza]

This state is circling the drain. The only thing keeping it from being sucked into the sewer is the OKC metro, and, to a much lesser extent, Tulsa (kind of but not really with Broken Arrow). But, current leadership is doing everything it possibly can to make Oklahoma as unwelcome, inhospitable, and unlivable of a smoldering hellhole as possible.

I know several people in the medical profession, the arts, and other high-income professions who are fleeing the state in droves right now. Honestly, at my advanced age, I'm tired of arguing with idiots and would really enjoy living somewhere else, where state leadership isn't constantly trolling me and insulting my intelligence and actively working to make my life worse.

You may not like the state-level politics, but “the state circling the drain” is just not borne out by census data, bls data, etc.