Liberal states vs conservative states, which are better?

EDIT: I just want to point out to everyone that while I will continue to approve comments for this post, I no longer reply to it. Feel free to continue to comment, but I won’t be taking part. ALSO, this post is from 2010. Some people seem to be unable to read dates and thus believe that somehow invalidates the information below. It doesn’t.

Further Edit. The New Republic did a great piece comparing and contrasting red states and blue states with updated information for 2012. You can find that article here.

Here is the 2008 election map of red states and blue states:

What I would like to do is go down a list of things like poverty, crime, education, religiosity, suicide rates, obesity, etc.. to see what the top ten states are in each category, then see if those states are conservative or liberal. This should paint a picture of the difference between conservative states and liberal states. A lot of these statisics will be coming from State Master, a neat little site that has all these statistics in one place. So let’s begin, shall we?

Richest states (per capita)

1. District of Columbia
2. Delaware
3. Connecticut
4. Alaska
5. Massachusetts
6. Wyoming
7. New Jersey
8. New York
9. Minnesota
10. Virginia

Highest percent bellow poverty line (per capita)

1. Mississippi
2. Louisiana
3. New Mexico
4. District of Columbia
5. Arkansas
6. West Virginia
7. Kentucky
8. Texas
9. Alabama
10. South Carolina

Looks like on average liberal states are better at economics and keeping poverty down that conservatives states.

Most Educated

1. Vermont
2. Connecticut
3. Massachusetts
4. New Jersy
5. Maine
6. Minnesota
7. Virginia
8. Wisconsin
9. Montana
10. New York

Least Educated

1. Arizona
2. Mississippi
3. New Mexico
4. Nevada
5. California
6. Lousiana
7. Alaska
8. Alabama
9. Hawaii
10. Tennessee

Liberals also seem to be on average more educated that conservatives.

Most Unemployment

1. Mississippi
2. Alaska
3. Michigan
4. South Carolina
5. Kentucky
6. Oregon
7. District of Columbia
8. Illinois
9. Rhode Island
10. Tennessee

Fewest Unemployed

1. Hawaii
2. Wyomming
3. Virginia
4. Florida
5. North Dakota
6. Idaho
7. Nebraska
8. Alabama
9. Vermont
10. South Dakota

Looks like unemployment is a problem for everybody, regardless.

Healthiest

1. Vermont
2. New Hampshire
3. Massachussettes
4. Minnesota
5. Maine
6. Iowa
7. Utah
8. Hawaii
9. Nebraska
10. Connecticut

Least Healthy

1. Louisiana
2. Mississippi
3. New Mexico
4. Nevada
5. Oklahoma
6. Texas
7. Florida
8. South Carolina
9. Georgia
10. Alabama

People in liberals states are on average healthier than people in conservative states.

Highest Taxes

1. Hawaii
2. Wyomming
3. Connecticut
4. Minnesota
5. Delaware
6. Vermont
7. Massachusetts
8. New Jersey
9. California
10. Michigan

Lowest Taxes

1. Texas
2. South Dakota
3. Colorado
4. New Hampshire
5. Alabama
6. Missouri
7. Tennessee
8. South Carolina
9. Georgia
10. Arizona

Liberals pay more taxes than conservatives.

Receive the most federal tax dollars

1. District of Columbia
2. New Mexico
3. Mississippi
4. Alaska
5. Louisiana
6. West Virginia
7. North Dakota
8. Alabama
9. South Dakota
10. Kentucky

Receive the least federal tax dollars

1. New Jersey
2. Nevada
3. Connecticut
4. New Hampshire
5. Minnesota
6. Illinois
7. Delaware
8. California
9. New York
10. Colorado

Despite the liberals paying the majority of the taxes, the conservatives are the ones taking the most out of the tax pool. This phenomenon is called “Red State Welfare”. Conservatives decry the evils of government and taxes, and then turn around and take the biggest fist full from the cookie jar….way to go hypocrites.

Most Suicides (per capita)

1. Wyoming
2. Montana
3. Alaska
4. Nevada
5. New Mexico
6. Oregon
7. Colorado
8. Idaho
9. West Virginia
10. Arizona

Fewest Suicides (per capita)

1. New York
2. District of Columbia
3. New Jersey
4. Massachusetts
5. Connecticut
6. Rhode Island
7. Illinois
8. Maryland
9. California
10. Ohio

Looks like you’re less likely to kill yourself in a liberal state than in a conservative one. I wonder if the general liberal attitude of acceptance and tolerance over the conservative tendency to be repressive and controlling has anything to do with this…

Most Teen Pregnancies

1. Texas
2. New Mexico
3. Mississippi
4. Arizona
5. District of Columbia
6. Arkansas
7. Lousiana
8. Oklahomoa
9. Tennessee
10. Georgia

Fewest Teen Pregnancies

1. New Hampshire
2. Vermont
3. Massachusetts
4. Connecticut
5. Maine
6. New Jersey
7. Minnesota
8. North Dakota
9. New York
10. Pennsylvania

In a liberal state you’re less likely to get pregnant as a teenager. Maybe the fact that liberals are better educated and promote the teaching and use of contraception has something to do with this. How’s that abstinence only sex education working out for ya conservatives?

Highest Firearm Death rate

1. District of Columbia
2. Alaska
3. Louisiana
4. Wyoming
5. Arizona
6. Nevada
7. Mississippi
8. New Mexico
9. Arkansas
10. Alabama

Lowest Firearm Death Rate

1. Hawaii
2. Massachusetts
3. Connecticut
4. New Jersey
5. New York
6. Rhode Island
7. New Hampshire
8. Minnesota
9. Maine
10. Iowa

Looks like you’re more likely to die in a gun crime in a conservative state than a liberal state.

Most binge drinkers

1. Wisconsin
2. North Dakota
3. Minnesota
4. Iowa
5. Rhode Island
6. Nevada
7. Pennsylvania
8. Nebraska
9. Illinois
10. Deleware

Fewest binge drinkers

1. Tennessee
2. Utah
3. North Carolina
4. Kentucky
5. West Virginia
6. Mississippi
7. Arkansas
8. Georgia
9. Florida
10. Idaho

Conservatives win here. It looks like liberals might have a drinking problem…

Most religious states

1. Mississippi
2. Alabama
3. Arkansas
4. Louisiana
5. Tennessee
6. South Carolina
7. Oklahoma
8. North Carolina
9. Georgia
10. Kentucky

Least religious states

1. Vermont
2. New Hampshire
3. Alaska
4. Massachusetts
5. Maine
6. Connecticut
7. Rhode Island
8. Colorado
9. Oregon
10. New York

No surprise here, conservative states are also the most religious, yet despite this they have the highest teen pregnancies, higher gun crimes, lower education, more suicides, more poverty, take the most in federal money, and are the most unhealthy states. Guess that kinda kills the whole “putting our god into government is good”. Looks like the more godless a state is, the better it is to live in. Except for binge drinking, looks like liberal states do a lot of things better than conservative states. No wonder these people want to take the country “back” and not forward.

PS EDIT: found this chart, backs up pretty much the same conclusions. (I can’t seem to get it to format right, but the original pic link is here.