Arizona's economy is really shaping up, based on an independent ranking of the 50 states' financial situations -- the Grand Canyon State is now the 47th best out of the 50 states, which is an improvement over the previous ranking of 48th.
The financial-news website 24/7 Wall St. has been doing these rankings for a few years now, and takes into account a state's debt, budget deficit, unemployment, household income, and the amount of residents in poverty.
See also:
-Under Jan Brewer's Fearless Leadership, Arizona Not Ranked Worst-Run State in Country -- Just Third Worst
"To determine how well the states are run, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed hundreds of data sets from dozens of sources. We looked at each state's debt, revenue, expenditure and deficit to determine how well it is managed fiscally," the authors explain. "We reviewed taxes, exports, and GDP growth, including a breakdown by sector, to identify how each state is managing its resources. We looked at poverty, income, unemployment, high school graduation, violent crime and foreclosure rates to measure if residents are prospering."
In general, that's a list of areas where Arizona's not doing too well.
Here are the stats:
- Debt per capita: $2,188 (12th lowest)
- Budget deficit: 39.0% (3rd largest)
- Unemployment: 9.5% (tied-13th highest)
- Median household income: $46,709 (21st lowest)
- Pct. below poverty line: 19.0% (tied-8th highest)
Arizona also placed second in the nation in the decline of home prices (35 percent decline from 2006 to 2011), and second in the nation in the rate of foreclosures last year.
Forget all that, though, Arizona's climbing these rankings!
California was ranked as the absolute worst, and mostly rural states were among the top five.
Click here for more details, and the entire rankings.
