2024’s Top States To Live In Includes Wisconsin, Iowa, & Illinois

It should make you feel good knowing your state is one of the best to live in. That means your state's government is doing a decent enough job to make sure things aren't falling apart, taxes supposedly aren't the worst, and sending your kids to school or outside isn't so scary or detrimental to their well-being.

A new study has come out revealing the best and worst states to live in. Yes, some states are better to live in than others. The two states that make up the Quad Cities landed in the top 20 while their neighbor to the north landed in the top 10.

Why are Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois such great states to live in? Let's dive into the details.

Finding 2024's Best States To Live In

The company WalletHub revealed this year's top states to live in.

In order to determine the best and worst states to live in, WalletHub compared the 50 states across five key dimensions:

1. Affordability
2. Economy
3. Education & Health
4. Quality of Life
5. Safety

WalletHub evaluated those dimensions using 51 relevant metrics. After doing a bunch of math, they determined each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and rank the states.

The study found that Illinois is the 16th best state to live in. Besides having the 5th most restaurants per capita, Illinois ranked really well in quality of life and safety.

To no one's surprise, Illinois actually had one of the worst economies and isn't the easiest place to afford houses and things in general.

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The 12th Best State To Live In Is Iowa

Iowa takes the 12th spot because it's so cheap to live in the Hawkeye State. Ranking 1st in the lowest housing cost, Iowa ranked well in education and health, quality of life, and safety.

Iowa's economy didn't rank as high as one would think but its affordability ranking also did pretty well.

Wisconsin Cracks The Top 10 Best States To Live In

For those that live to the north of Iowa and Illinois in Wisconsin, congrats! You're in the top 10 best states to live in.

WalletHub found that Wisconsin is the 8th best state to live in. Having a very high ranking in education and health, Wisconsin also did well in the quality of life and safety categories.