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Alaska Leads All States in "Standard of Living" Satisfaction

A new poll from Gallup indicates that Alaskans are the most satisfied with their standard of living compared to the rest of the states.

The “State of the States” poll from Gallop is based on tracking interviews with over 178-thousand adults conducted last year. At least 500 residents were interviewed in every state. Specifically, the Standard of Living index was based on the results from 2 questions. The first is whether those interviewed were satisfied with their current standard of living and the second question was whether their standard of living is getting better or worse. The highest composite index score was the 53 recorded for Alaska, followed by North Dakota at 52 and Hawaii at 51. The rest of the top 10 included the District of Columbia, Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas, Minnesota, Iowa, California and Massachusetts. Both California and Massachusetts had composite index scores of 45. The states at the bottom of the list included West Virginia, Maine, Rhode Island, Alabama, Missouri and North Carolina. West Virginia had the lowest index score at 22. The national index score was 38. That’s up from the national score of 34 posted back in 2012. The state that posted the biggest improvement last year was Vermont, which showed a 19-point improvement compared to 2012. Gallup labels Alaska as a true outlier for standard of living noting that the state seems an improbable state to lead the pack on the standard of living index considering the state’s dismally low score in economic confidence. Gallup confirms that Alaska ranks among the lowest states in the nation for economic confidence and was just one point away from being included in the bottom 10 for job creation. Gallup suggests that Alaska’s high standard of living index could reflect the fact that Alaska is the only state with neither a state income tax nor a state sales tax. Gallup observes that Alaska has led the standard of living index every year since 2009 with the exception of 2012 when Alaska was second on the list. Gallup also points out that residents in Alaska may define a “high standard of living” differently than residents in other states because of the “life enriching opportunities that nature freely provides”. A closer look at the data for Alaska shows that 84-percent of respondents were satisfied with the state’s standard of living, while just 16-percent dissatisfied. 61-percent noted that the standard of living was getting better and 22-percent were getting worse. The composite index score for Alaska was 53, which is up 7-points compared to 2012.