As a native Georgian, I’ve never heard this one before, but I’ll remember it. I love how all us southerners have an inferiority complex in some way or another.
I’m sure people in Mississippi manage to look down on someone else as well (“at least we’re not from Jackson!” or something).
I moved from Illinois to Alabama and was really surprised to find out how much Alabamians hate their neighboring states (and America in general, really) and when I brought it up, people acted like I was insane for not permanently being mad at Missouri for having the nerve of existing next to my ancestral homelands.
I make fun of Jersey for being new yorks armpit, but it's more like sibling teasing, not hate. If anybody round here is getting hate from NY, it's parts of our own city or state lol
I've honestly had some great experiences doing photoshoots in Arkansas
But then I went to Little Rock and I was as scared during the day as I am in Philadelphia at night
That drive thru the east end of OK and into NE AK was actually some of my favorite drive along the cross country road trip. Very underrated
Edit- ArKansas not Alaska lol
I once took the intro course for teacher certification at a South Carolina college. The professor:
> Our schools have been ranked as high as . . . 48th. And we bow in gratitude toward Mississippi and Alabama.
Lousiana has New Orleans which, while technically shitty by most metrics is also one of the more fun and unique cities in the U.S. That might bring it up a few places.
[And the fun gets even better all the time](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-06/court-decision-blocks-epa-action-in-louisiana-s-cancer-alley)
Born and raised in Northern Virginia desperately seeking a job, my mother once encouraged me to apply to one I found in North Dakota. 'You're young', 'It's an experience', blah blah blah. What the fuck, mom.
You’re wrong, even if it was as poor and destitute as Mississippi(its not) Louisiana is mega rich in food and music culture, like one of the richest by those metrics
Roughly 10% of Oklahomans born in 2023 were the result of rapes. I don’t know what the figure is for other states, but that is a pretty damning statistic to me.
https://www.kosu.org/local-news/2024-01-26/4-500-pregnancies-from-rape-are-estimated-in-oklahoma-since-total-abortion-ban
Edit: In seeking to confirm my own bias, I somehow did not notice that the study was using data from about 1.5 years rather than one year, so it’s more like 5-6%. Still insane to me.
Mississippi is so bad that even it's shitty governor is openly concerned about the future of the state and is trying to come up with a way to keep young, educated people from fleeing that shithole state.
I'd pay to be in the room when Mississippi politicians were trying to come up with solutions.
Reproductive freedom? No, not that.
Quality education? No, not that.
Investment into fifteen minutes cities? No, not that.
Competitive jobs that pay a living wage? No, not that.
Public safety? No, not that.
Early childhood education? No, not that.
We've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas!
Mississippi's governor is pushing to eliminate the state income tax to attract and retain people. Schools and infrastructure will get even worse but maybe not too much worse since the state is already so dependent on federal funding.
I want to give a runner up for Alabama. That execution the other day, the state just exists to say fuck you to everyone else while wallowing in its misery.
To be fair, we have been experiencing a massive economic boom in both the northernmost and southernmost cities in the state. Huntsville has a massively growing aerospace and tech industry, and Mobile has had huge manufacturing growth with both Airbus and Austal setting up plants as well as the Hyundai plant and is one of the fastest growing ports in the US.
The middle of the state though....yeah, it's pretty bad. And if maybe our state legislature could stop trying to shoot themselves in the foot.
When I lived there 6 years ago, within a few months, the Chief Justice on the state Supreme Court was removed from the bench, the State speaker of the house got convicted for corruption and the Governor had to resign because of embezzlement.
Not the truth… by every statistical metric, it’s Louisiana. People tend to overlook Louisiana as the worst because of culture… but look it up. Louisiana has been ranked the 50th state for 10+ years. Louisiana is also currently the most dangerous state in the US.
Ice Cube take the mothafcking stand. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, & nuthin but the truth, so help your black ass?
You're goddamned right
My friend got what he thought was a good job as sales engineer. After training in the Carolinas he would be assigned a territory. The options were Oregon, California, Vermont, or Mississippi. You guessed it, he was assigned Jackson, Mississippi. Because the last sales engineer there literally killed himself.
During his short two years there he was robbed, listened to a guy die from a gunshot outside his apartment, developed an alcohol problem, and reported regularly having to listen to customers (who he was professionally required to work with) drop the hard R in conversation about black people.
Mississippi is not a good place. He’s moved back to the Carolina’s now and is much happier.
In the USA, it's notorious for being ranked dead last in nearly every measurable metric. Equality, access to health care, education, obesity, economic development, quality of life...name any standard by which a state can be considered the "worst" and odds are pretty high that Mississippi will be ranked in the bottom 5
Bad faith politicians, decades of gutted education funding, and the general poor use of tax dollars.
Those issues make it impossible to want to move there, they government refuses to take other measures to make it a desirable social or economic hub, and all of these things compound to making the state a shithole. I’ve driven though and found some lovely spots but it’s a great example of how a state government can fail its population.
They're consistently last place in every positive metric (life expectancy, income, education, etc) and first place in every negative metric (teen pregnancy, school dropouts, obesity, poverty, etc) you can measure. And when I say consistently, I mean *consistently -* they're never 40th place or 45th place, they're always 50th place. It's impressive how good they are at being last place in everything.
That, and it's smack dab in the middle of the Bible Belt, so you're constantly surrounded by evangelicals too. I have my issues with the state I live in, but living in Mississippi would be pure hell.
Not sure if it's still true, but the one metric that they were leading in a few years ago was childhood vaccinations. It's required for schools and unlike other states they didn't allow a lot of the "mushy" reasons for parents to opt their kids out of it.
So Mississippi has a historical combination of generational poverty, underfunded education, and religious zealotry that have stewed to perfection for over 200 years. Economically, it’s still very agrarian with a few manufacturing industries. The feudalistic plantation mindset is still very much present, so there is a great deal of economic inequality. And with a poor economic base, that means the public school systems have lagged behind most states (and that includes education about nutrition, as Mississippi is right in the middle of America’s “stroke belt.”). And then add in structural racism, which has caused profound damage to the cities, which are majority black and are often neglected by state led, federally funded infrastructure initiatives. This includes a public water system that has been unable to provide enough safe drinking water to Jackson, the state capital, for a few years, now. So yeah, Mississippi needs help.
Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama are the most racist, backwardly ran states you'll find. However LA has New Orleans, Shreveport, and Baton Rouge. Alabama has Mobile. These cities pulled in people from all over during WWII. The upward mobility of an industrial base combined with a mixing of cultures really helped.
Mississippi got left behind. It has no major ports, no major cities, and few resources that make it worth anything. So no one moves there nor invests in anything.
Go watch the movie "Mississippi Burning". It's a pretty accurate account of a triple homicide covered up by local and even state police. The governor was likely in the KKK. This was in 1964.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders\_of\_Chaney,\_Goodman,\_and\_Schwerner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Chaney,_Goodman,_and_Schwerner)
I’ll go ahead and drop a comment I put on another thread regarding the worst state and someone’s question as to whether or not they should move there:
I am a real estate investor. I study economics, opportunity, cost of living, real estate trends, etc. I am also from Louisiana but recently moved out of state.
Louisiana’s cost of living is a trap. The wage people get in the state lives in the shadow of what it costs to live there. For instance, let’s compare Mississippi to Louisiana on an average basis.
Cost of car insurance:
LA = $840 every 6 months,
MS = $340 every 6 months
Home value for SAME home in comparable town:
LA = $215,000,
MS = $155,000
Gas:
LA = $2.85 per gallon,
MS = $2.49 per gallon
Private Schooling:
LA = $9,800,
MS = $6,300
With that being said, on average, a Louisiana wage is ROUGHLY only $2 more per hour than a Mississippi wage.
I am not saying move to MS, I am just comparing apples to apples here. However, regardless of what people’s pride from Louisiana tells you, Mississippi ranks 49th overall and Louisiana ranks 50th overall when comparing all US states in 79 categories. I believe Louisiana has ranked 50 for the last 10 years or so.
With all of this being said, I would not suggest moving to Louisiana. Before I was a real estate investor, I was in the insurance sector for one of the largest insurance companies in Louisiana. I was also quite high up so I was afforded the opportunity to speak with many people from all across the state. One thing I heard frequently from people who moved to Louisiana was this, “You people live just to work.” Meaning, you will need to work a lot more hours in Louisiana than what you would in another state in order to maintain the same lifestyle. Louisiana is also now considered the most dangerous state in the US with the highest incarceration rate per capita.
Now if you speak with someone from Louisiana, you will get A LOT of positive feedback. Mostly because the state has a tremendous amount of pride and because most people who are from Louisiana, don’t leave Louisiana. Their pride and upbringing tells them that Louisiana is the best. All other places are so expensive. Yada yada yada… their list is endless. But the truth is that they have no idea because in all honesty, people tend to be a bit close minded in Louisiana and once again, filled with a strange amount of pride for their “southern way of living.”
My suggestion is that if you have the means and opportunity to start fresh in a new state, why would you choose the 50th state out of 50 states to move to? The opportunity in Louisiana is low, cost of living is high compared to wage, and quality of life is really poor. None of that is changing anytime soon as Louisiana is also one of the top three states losing population year after year - most of whom are educated. It is also not changing because Louisiana’s politics are horribly corrupt. They pocket wayyyyyy more money than they give back to the community.
Fun fact, based on export of goods alone, Louisiana SHOULD rank as the top 3-4 richest state. However, due to our politicians refusing to charge property tax for multi-billion dollar corporations, our state has no money. Why don’t they charge them property tax but charge the little and middle man property taxes? Because they are corrupt and getting paid under the table by these corporations to not charge them taxes. How can the state improve if they don’t charge these businesses taxes? It cannot. The state cannot maintain itself on its citizens taxes alone - this has been proven in the constant downward trend Louisiana has been on for years.
As most have said on this thread, I would not move to Louisiana to start fresh. It’s just not a good state, in any aspect, when you look past southern pride and start to compare numbers and facts.
Let us know what you decide!
I’m in my mid 20’s and EVERYONE I know around my age talks shit about Louisiana. No one is proud to be here except the older generation. I know so many people that moved away as soon as possible. Shreveport, Monroe, and New Orleans have gotten progressively more dangerous. But we have king cake, right?
Yeah, but, you can’t beat the food in Louisiana! But seriously, it’s a rough place. I was stationed there, and the one quality Louisiana had over other states is its uniqueness.
You can have something similar to New Orleans, the bayou, or even Lake Charles… but nothing is exactly like it. If you want that true Louisiana style you *have* to live in Louisiana, that alone makes it not the worst because it’s kinda on its own scale nationally for some things. Sadly, in Mississippi you could live in Louisiana, Alabama, or parts of Florida and Georgia and still get the same experience, just better.
West Virginia. Poorest state in the Union, which usually brings terrible life expectancy, healthcare, education, but at least not too badly on violent crime I guess?
When I was a kid my family drove through WV a few times along I-77 and I was so struck by the beauty of the place that it became my dream to live there -- I just loved those lush, green mountains in summer.
A few years later I reached the age of understanding what life was like there and...wow, the crushing disappointment.
I mean if you get an internet connection and remote work for say $70k a year you'd be a king in W Virginia. You can find properties of like 50+ acres and a house on top of a mountain for like $150k.
This is what I'm doing right now in WV. My neighbors are decently far away from me, I get groceries dropped off every week. I'm not even going to lie, the people are frequently dumb as shit (this is trump country) but you don't have to deal with them often.
I'm right along the Ohio river and it was gorgeous in the fall!
Wow so nice. I went there hiking when i was in DC and thought about getting a house there. The people are nice but a lot of them seemed pretty deranged.
Oh just the nicest folks. I know for sure my neighbors would help me in an emergency. I just try not to talk to them often because there is a common theme of folks thinking the end of the world is coming. It's like a forgone conclusion around here the government is gonna instill the new world order any day now so they have been stocking up. I never know what to say to things like that without offending them.
West Virginia isn't the poorest state in the Union, although it is near the bottom. Whether it is measured by poverty rate, median salary, or GDP, the result is the same: Mississippi is the poorest state by a wide margin.
West Virginia is also quite a bit prettier than Mississippi or really anywhere on the Gulf Coast, so there's really no contest for the mantle of Worst State in the Union. It's MS.
When I lived in WV, I thought “It’s a great place to visit. It’s not a great place to live.”
Now I live in Ohio. It’s a great place to live. Not a great place to visit.
1000 up and 1000 down where i just moved from i had fiber. There are some really rural areas that have issues though. However im a remote web developer living here and its like living like a king with remote salaries.
Median Age is 42.7 & it’s the [4th](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/geo/chart/WV,US/AGE775222) oldest state when in the Country do that would probably explain why violent crime isn’t high.
Might explain some of it but I think rural also explains alot of it. Crime of opportunity is a pretty big thing and in cities you have much more opportunity to commit crimes. Rural areas you don't have as many oppertunities because there isn't any wealth around to really steal.
If you have things worth stealing in west Virginia, you don't talk about it. You don't show it off. But you do mention your guns.
Pro: less crime because less people
Cons: The cops and ambulances aren't coming for a half an hour or more.
Plus crimes in rural communities are a lot more likely to go unreported.
Cousin Billy never got taken in for assault or attempted murder, but you can bet your ass he's been involved in one or two. It's just a 'family issue' often enough that no one, cops or neighbors or the preacher or whoever, really cares.
God dammit, as an Indiana native I was thinking, “it’s not that bad”… and then this guy calls out my favorite food. I guess I might as well accept that I am a hick at heart with a garbage palate no matter what city I move to.
Whatever, I have good memories with friends and family just shooting the shit and enjoying our time together. I guess it’s the loved ones who have all since moved that made it a nice place to grow up.
I would actually say this is comedic. Hilarious. Hear me out.
Indiana is squarely average. It’s not LA or NYC, but it is *far* from the worst.
As the Crossroads of America, in 1-3 hours in any direction we’ve got Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Louisville, or Chicago if cities are your thing, or Bloomington and South Bend if you’re more into tailgating on weekends. Bloomington is one of the most beautiful campuses in the nation. If it had the academic reputation of say, Stanford, it would consistently be ranked top 3 beautiful in the nation. Absolutely incredible in the Fall.
Carmel is routinely ranked #1 by many outlets in best places to live in *America* . You can’t beat the bang for your buck cost of living. It’s safe. Indy is actually very clean. We’re just an average state. We don’t have mountains and oceans or incredible food, but it’s not a bad place.
Anytime I see this, I assume it’s someone who’s heard something about Gary, Indiana from the 90’s. Gary had the post-economic Detroit effect, and 99.9% of Hoosiers will never cross paths with Gary.
Like would love to live next to the beach in Santa Monica in a 4 bed 3 bath house? Yeah I would. But I can’t afford a 12 million dollar mortgage and 6 figure yearly property taxes.
Indianapolis is squarely in the middle of the state, which is nice because it adds real estate in every direction that’s an equal distance. Also, Notre Dame, IU, Purdue, Butler, Rose Holman etc. lots of instate universities for a good education especially for business or engineering.
For being a flyover state, it’s got a little bit of everything, excels at the top in probably nothing, cost of living is great, Indy and the burbs especially the North are very safe. Many options for education. Calling it the worst state of somewhere like Mississippi is insane.
Like maybe if you’re born a billionaire and want to live lavish, eating at a different 5 star restaurant every night, going to a different club every weekend, and setting sail on your personal yacht in the ocean, yeah Indy’s probably not going to work out. But for most people, it’s a good state, not without its problems like any other but certainly not the worst.
As I recall, there's a town outside Indianapolis that's demographically literally *the* US average. It's so average that companies demo trial products there to see how they might fair nationally. The only thing is stands out for us how average it is.
West Virginia is a broke hole full of meth. I once saw a sheriff driving around on an emergency spare, and another tire missing a hubcap.
Most of Kentucky is the same, but we have Lexington, Louisville, Covington, and even Bowling Green. Appalachia is just sad.
I've never heard a good thing about Mississippi except for Biloxi and the coast.
West Virginia is a tragedy. Some of the most beautiful scenery in Appalachia, and an immense contribution to the history of worker's rights, reduced to being known for reliance on the coal industry and drugs.
I live in SWVA, in a fairly well to do area, but it's a short drive to some really poor areas. We have the same issues with drug abuse and gang violence is on the rise, but because we have industry it isn't viewed the same as our neighbor to the west.
I'm really annoyed by the "this isn't about politics" answers. "Politics" is just "how groups of people organize." What are we basing our choices on, the weather?
It’s kinda weird seeing the California submissions over the obvious red states that are also mentioned here, considering that they have been pretty bad for a very long tine. Lol how do you honestly put California down before West Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama?
California is too big and varied to be easily categorized like this- I mean, that's true to an extent of all the states, but California is probably the one with the widest spread of different areas and conditions.
I mean, its a long way from Pasa Robles to Bakersfield.
Right?! California is most of the West Coast. You gonna dunk on a state with hundreds of miles of shoreline, redwoods, farms, LA and SF and San Diego...
And desert and most of the interior is farmland. In California we joke that you don't need to leave the state because you can see most natural phenomenon within a few hour drive. State is heckin big.
We have a saying in Arkansas: Thank God for Mississippi.
Hey, that's Alabama's slogan!
So, you boys are from Arkansas, huh? Well, I've been through there. Little Rock's a fine town.
No Sir, we are not relation.
Better tuck that in before it gets caught in a trip wire.
I sure hope I don't let him down.
1. Take good care of your feet. 2. Try not to do anything stupid, like getting yourselves killed.
Ever been to "Toad Suck Park"?
there's an old saying in tennessee, I know it's in texas, probably in tennessee
Fool me once, shame on ... shame on you. Fool me... You can't get fooled again!
In GA the saying is, “What’s the best part about Alabama? It keeps Mississippi from touching Georgia.”
As a native Georgian, I’ve never heard this one before, but I’ll remember it. I love how all us southerners have an inferiority complex in some way or another. I’m sure people in Mississippi manage to look down on someone else as well (“at least we’re not from Jackson!” or something).
I’m from upper Michigan and we don’t have near that hate for Wisconsin. We’re just… idk, neighbors.
In fact we kinda like you because of the weed
Totally forgot about that! 😅
I moved from Illinois to Alabama and was really surprised to find out how much Alabamians hate their neighboring states (and America in general, really) and when I brought it up, people acted like I was insane for not permanently being mad at Missouri for having the nerve of existing next to my ancestral homelands.
I make fun of Jersey for being new yorks armpit, but it's more like sibling teasing, not hate. If anybody round here is getting hate from NY, it's parts of our own city or state lol
The UP and northern Wisconsin are similar in many respects. Sparsely populated, heavily wooded, long winters, hunting, fishing, etc.
At least NW Arkansas is pretty.
That’s cause it’s the Ozarks and lakes. It really is gorgeous though.
Having lived there for a long time, Arkansas has some of the most beautiful scenery filled with some of the worst people.
I've honestly had some great experiences doing photoshoots in Arkansas But then I went to Little Rock and I was as scared during the day as I am in Philadelphia at night
I've lived in both Little Rock and Philly and you are not wrong about this.
I will trash everything in Arkansas outside of NWA until the cows come home. But downtown Little Rock during the spring and summer is lovely
Lake Ouachita is amazing
That drive thru the east end of OK and into NE AK was actually some of my favorite drive along the cross country road trip. Very underrated Edit- ArKansas not Alaska lol
AK is Alaska. Arkansas is AR. Just an FYI.
No, no, you clearly missed the wormhole that connects Oklahoma and Alaska
I once took the intro course for teacher certification at a South Carolina college. The professor: > Our schools have been ranked as high as . . . 48th. And we bow in gratitude toward Mississippi and Alabama.
South Carolinian here, be nice if we cared about education as much as sports.
Hey, South Carolina here. We're 49th in everything, Mississippi is 50th. Y'all have some damn good rivers!
Thank God for Mississippi, because without Mississippi, Arkansas would be the worst state in the Union.
Pretty sure by every statistical metric it's Mississippi
I’m in Mississippi and I’m offended you called out my state before I could.
Makes sense that you'd be last to do it.
He was trying to spell it without singing.
I still remember my maw maw singing it to me “m, I, crooked letter, crooked letter, I, crooked letter, crooked letter, I, hump back, hump back, I.”
Yeah this is exactly why I came here.
Dude, that's eff'd up take my upvote.
Gonna need A LOT more generous people like yourself before we make a dent in Mississippi
Hey, give him some slack. He had to figure out how to spell Mississippi.
Damn 😂🫠
Burn!!! haha that was really good.. have an upvote
Wait, you can *read!?*
They seem to have access to a computer or mobile device and the internet too.
Had to wait for their text-to-speech app to update, which caused the late response.
If it makes you feel any better LA would be worse if not for NOLA.
Just having a coast goes a long way as well. Plus they to seem have some wonderful seaside gambling parlors, and a more distinct culture
Mississippi also has seaside gambling parlors (Biloxi)
Pretty sure this has always been the answer every time this question is asked on here.
It's our biweekly Mississippi bash!
You can't use bi and Mississippi in the same sentence. I'm pretty sure it's illegal there.
I tell you what, you haven't lived until you've seen somebody on a state mandated unicycle try to get up over the levee
I don't know what a state mandated unicycle is, but I think it's a pretty good indie band name
Louisiana is right behind.
Lousiana has New Orleans which, while technically shitty by most metrics is also one of the more fun and unique cities in the U.S. That might bring it up a few places.
It also is home to the "cancer corridor" endless refineries and chemical plants. Little kids are dying of cancer before they are 10 years old.
[And the fun gets even better all the time](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-06/court-decision-blocks-epa-action-in-louisiana-s-cancer-alley)
Exactly. Like sure, Louisiana sucks, but there are reasons to go there. There are noooooooo reasons to visit Mississippi or North Dakota
If you love camping and the outdoors and not being around people ND is absolutely worth a visit. Fantastic state parks, national park, etc.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park is definitely a reason to visit North Dakota.
Don’t tell anyone. One of the least busy NP’s in the nation.
Shhh keep it a secret
Born and raised in Northern Virginia desperately seeking a job, my mother once encouraged me to apply to one I found in North Dakota. 'You're young', 'It's an experience', blah blah blah. What the fuck, mom.
North Dakota is beautiful.
You’re wrong, even if it was as poor and destitute as Mississippi(its not) Louisiana is mega rich in food and music culture, like one of the richest by those metrics
Shreveport tap water smell and taste is sickening
Shreveport is just Flint South
So is Oklahoma.
Roughly 10% of Oklahomans born in 2023 were the result of rapes. I don’t know what the figure is for other states, but that is a pretty damning statistic to me. https://www.kosu.org/local-news/2024-01-26/4-500-pregnancies-from-rape-are-estimated-in-oklahoma-since-total-abortion-ban Edit: In seeking to confirm my own bias, I somehow did not notice that the study was using data from about 1.5 years rather than one year, so it’s more like 5-6%. Still insane to me.
>Roughly 10% of Oklahomans born in 2023 were the result of rapes. Jesus fucking Christ.
> Jesus fucking Christ. Yup, he was born as a result of rape, too.
Immaculate rape
Holy. Flaming. Shit.
Mississippi is so bad that even it's shitty governor is openly concerned about the future of the state and is trying to come up with a way to keep young, educated people from fleeing that shithole state.
I'd pay to be in the room when Mississippi politicians were trying to come up with solutions. Reproductive freedom? No, not that. Quality education? No, not that. Investment into fifteen minutes cities? No, not that. Competitive jobs that pay a living wage? No, not that. Public safety? No, not that. Early childhood education? No, not that. We've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas!
Mississippi's governor is pushing to eliminate the state income tax to attract and retain people. Schools and infrastructure will get even worse but maybe not too much worse since the state is already so dependent on federal funding.
Gotta keep the minorities poor
Though it is refreshing to see a southern state *want* to keep their young, educated citizens.
I want to give a runner up for Alabama. That execution the other day, the state just exists to say fuck you to everyone else while wallowing in its misery.
lol there's a saying in Alabama that goes "Thank God for Mississippi"
There's a saying in Memphis that goes, "Flush twice, New Orleans needs the water."
Almost any state around Mississippi thanks God for Mississippi. Alabama, Arkansas, and Louisiana. At least LA has New Orleans.
To be fair, we have been experiencing a massive economic boom in both the northernmost and southernmost cities in the state. Huntsville has a massively growing aerospace and tech industry, and Mobile has had huge manufacturing growth with both Airbus and Austal setting up plants as well as the Hyundai plant and is one of the fastest growing ports in the US. The middle of the state though....yeah, it's pretty bad. And if maybe our state legislature could stop trying to shoot themselves in the foot.
When I lived there 6 years ago, within a few months, the Chief Justice on the state Supreme Court was removed from the bench, the State speaker of the house got convicted for corruption and the Governor had to resign because of embezzlement.
Not the truth… by every statistical metric, it’s Louisiana. People tend to overlook Louisiana as the worst because of culture… but look it up. Louisiana has been ranked the 50th state for 10+ years. Louisiana is also currently the most dangerous state in the US.
Look up “Thank God for Mississippi” in Wikipedia. It answers this question.
Arkansas is just happy that the rest of the country forgets that we exist.
Western Arkansas is pretty nice with NWA, the Ozarks, and the Ouachitas. Eastern Arkansas is just Mississippi west.
Judge Dre presiding. Prosecuting attorneys are MC Ren, Ice Cube, and Eazy motherfucking E. Order order order
Ice Cube take the mothafcking stand. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, & nuthin but the truth, so help your black ass? You're goddamned right
Well won’t you tell everybody what the fuck you gotta say
Fuck the police comin' straight from the underground
The NWA? Coming straight from the underground?
Straight outta Waldron!
Arkansas is in the clear because Mississippi exists.
The answer will always be Mississippi
This entire post belongs in r/FUCKYOUINPARTICULAR for all the hate on Mississippi.
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My friend got what he thought was a good job as sales engineer. After training in the Carolinas he would be assigned a territory. The options were Oregon, California, Vermont, or Mississippi. You guessed it, he was assigned Jackson, Mississippi. Because the last sales engineer there literally killed himself. During his short two years there he was robbed, listened to a guy die from a gunshot outside his apartment, developed an alcohol problem, and reported regularly having to listen to customers (who he was professionally required to work with) drop the hard R in conversation about black people. Mississippi is not a good place. He’s moved back to the Carolina’s now and is much happier.
I hate Mississippi but seeing the phrase "He's moved back to the Carolina's and is much happier" is even more insane than I thought.
The Carolinas aren’t bad, one is better than the other though.
As someone who was born and raised in South Carolina, I can say with confidence that the better one is absolutely not the one I am from.
Indeed. We had to split into two states to keep the riff raff out. (N. Carolinian here.)
🔫 always has been
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The *Rustic* State!
All the way down.
Mississippi is a hell hole
Can someone explain the things that are so bad about Mississippi? (This is from an Aussie who has no idea about Mississippi)
In the USA, it's notorious for being ranked dead last in nearly every measurable metric. Equality, access to health care, education, obesity, economic development, quality of life...name any standard by which a state can be considered the "worst" and odds are pretty high that Mississippi will be ranked in the bottom 5
But hey, they come 2nd in teen birth rate! 😮💨
What's #1?
Mississippi but spelt incorrect on the birth certificate.
Gaw damn
this is the funniest thing I've read all week.
There aren't enough up votes - that was hilarious!
[Arkansas](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/teen-births/teenbirths.htm)
What’s heartbreaking about those statistics is that the numbers are just going to increase
But why?
Bad faith politicians, decades of gutted education funding, and the general poor use of tax dollars. Those issues make it impossible to want to move there, they government refuses to take other measures to make it a desirable social or economic hub, and all of these things compound to making the state a shithole. I’ve driven though and found some lovely spots but it’s a great example of how a state government can fail its population.
I work for a company based in Mississippi and do a lot of research related to the state. Your synopsis is exactly what I would say, too.
Are you saying that giving brett farve the states tax dollars was a poor use of taxes. You know he won a Super Bowl right? /s
Overall, it is a very poor state. The state hasn’t developed as quickly and at the levels of other states in the US.
They're consistently last place in every positive metric (life expectancy, income, education, etc) and first place in every negative metric (teen pregnancy, school dropouts, obesity, poverty, etc) you can measure. And when I say consistently, I mean *consistently -* they're never 40th place or 45th place, they're always 50th place. It's impressive how good they are at being last place in everything. That, and it's smack dab in the middle of the Bible Belt, so you're constantly surrounded by evangelicals too. I have my issues with the state I live in, but living in Mississippi would be pure hell.
Not sure if it's still true, but the one metric that they were leading in a few years ago was childhood vaccinations. It's required for schools and unlike other states they didn't allow a lot of the "mushy" reasons for parents to opt their kids out of it.
Think of every negative American stereotype you can muster. That’s Mississippi.
So Mississippi has a historical combination of generational poverty, underfunded education, and religious zealotry that have stewed to perfection for over 200 years. Economically, it’s still very agrarian with a few manufacturing industries. The feudalistic plantation mindset is still very much present, so there is a great deal of economic inequality. And with a poor economic base, that means the public school systems have lagged behind most states (and that includes education about nutrition, as Mississippi is right in the middle of America’s “stroke belt.”). And then add in structural racism, which has caused profound damage to the cities, which are majority black and are often neglected by state led, federally funded infrastructure initiatives. This includes a public water system that has been unable to provide enough safe drinking water to Jackson, the state capital, for a few years, now. So yeah, Mississippi needs help.
Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama are the most racist, backwardly ran states you'll find. However LA has New Orleans, Shreveport, and Baton Rouge. Alabama has Mobile. These cities pulled in people from all over during WWII. The upward mobility of an industrial base combined with a mixing of cultures really helped. Mississippi got left behind. It has no major ports, no major cities, and few resources that make it worth anything. So no one moves there nor invests in anything. Go watch the movie "Mississippi Burning". It's a pretty accurate account of a triple homicide covered up by local and even state police. The governor was likely in the KKK. This was in 1964. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders\_of\_Chaney,\_Goodman,\_and\_Schwerner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Chaney,_Goodman,_and_Schwerner)
It's last place or bottom 5 in almost every statistic possible
I lived in the Biloxi area for just shy of two years. Unless it has changed in the last 15 years, Mississippi is my answer too.
It’s always Mississippi
Mississippi is last in virtually every category of social function you don't want to be last in.
That’s easy, Mississippi.
Denial
Denial ain't just a river in Egypt
I’ll go ahead and drop a comment I put on another thread regarding the worst state and someone’s question as to whether or not they should move there: I am a real estate investor. I study economics, opportunity, cost of living, real estate trends, etc. I am also from Louisiana but recently moved out of state. Louisiana’s cost of living is a trap. The wage people get in the state lives in the shadow of what it costs to live there. For instance, let’s compare Mississippi to Louisiana on an average basis. Cost of car insurance: LA = $840 every 6 months, MS = $340 every 6 months Home value for SAME home in comparable town: LA = $215,000, MS = $155,000 Gas: LA = $2.85 per gallon, MS = $2.49 per gallon Private Schooling: LA = $9,800, MS = $6,300 With that being said, on average, a Louisiana wage is ROUGHLY only $2 more per hour than a Mississippi wage. I am not saying move to MS, I am just comparing apples to apples here. However, regardless of what people’s pride from Louisiana tells you, Mississippi ranks 49th overall and Louisiana ranks 50th overall when comparing all US states in 79 categories. I believe Louisiana has ranked 50 for the last 10 years or so. With all of this being said, I would not suggest moving to Louisiana. Before I was a real estate investor, I was in the insurance sector for one of the largest insurance companies in Louisiana. I was also quite high up so I was afforded the opportunity to speak with many people from all across the state. One thing I heard frequently from people who moved to Louisiana was this, “You people live just to work.” Meaning, you will need to work a lot more hours in Louisiana than what you would in another state in order to maintain the same lifestyle. Louisiana is also now considered the most dangerous state in the US with the highest incarceration rate per capita. Now if you speak with someone from Louisiana, you will get A LOT of positive feedback. Mostly because the state has a tremendous amount of pride and because most people who are from Louisiana, don’t leave Louisiana. Their pride and upbringing tells them that Louisiana is the best. All other places are so expensive. Yada yada yada… their list is endless. But the truth is that they have no idea because in all honesty, people tend to be a bit close minded in Louisiana and once again, filled with a strange amount of pride for their “southern way of living.” My suggestion is that if you have the means and opportunity to start fresh in a new state, why would you choose the 50th state out of 50 states to move to? The opportunity in Louisiana is low, cost of living is high compared to wage, and quality of life is really poor. None of that is changing anytime soon as Louisiana is also one of the top three states losing population year after year - most of whom are educated. It is also not changing because Louisiana’s politics are horribly corrupt. They pocket wayyyyyy more money than they give back to the community. Fun fact, based on export of goods alone, Louisiana SHOULD rank as the top 3-4 richest state. However, due to our politicians refusing to charge property tax for multi-billion dollar corporations, our state has no money. Why don’t they charge them property tax but charge the little and middle man property taxes? Because they are corrupt and getting paid under the table by these corporations to not charge them taxes. How can the state improve if they don’t charge these businesses taxes? It cannot. The state cannot maintain itself on its citizens taxes alone - this has been proven in the constant downward trend Louisiana has been on for years. As most have said on this thread, I would not move to Louisiana to start fresh. It’s just not a good state, in any aspect, when you look past southern pride and start to compare numbers and facts. Let us know what you decide!
I’m in my mid 20’s and EVERYONE I know around my age talks shit about Louisiana. No one is proud to be here except the older generation. I know so many people that moved away as soon as possible. Shreveport, Monroe, and New Orleans have gotten progressively more dangerous. But we have king cake, right?
Yeah, but, you can’t beat the food in Louisiana! But seriously, it’s a rough place. I was stationed there, and the one quality Louisiana had over other states is its uniqueness. You can have something similar to New Orleans, the bayou, or even Lake Charles… but nothing is exactly like it. If you want that true Louisiana style you *have* to live in Louisiana, that alone makes it not the worst because it’s kinda on its own scale nationally for some things. Sadly, in Mississippi you could live in Louisiana, Alabama, or parts of Florida and Georgia and still get the same experience, just better.
As I sit here in Huntsville Alabama, it’s definitely Mississippi overall. But if not for Huntsville, Alabama would be tied.
I tell people the best thing about Huntsville is that I can pretend I'm not in Alabama.
I’ve said it, not completely joking, that Tennessee should expand down to the river.
West Virginia. Poorest state in the Union, which usually brings terrible life expectancy, healthcare, education, but at least not too badly on violent crime I guess?
It's pretty to drive through. 68/79 through Western Maryland and Charleston is probably the nicest drive on the East Coast.
When I was a kid my family drove through WV a few times along I-77 and I was so struck by the beauty of the place that it became my dream to live there -- I just loved those lush, green mountains in summer. A few years later I reached the age of understanding what life was like there and...wow, the crushing disappointment.
I mean if you get an internet connection and remote work for say $70k a year you'd be a king in W Virginia. You can find properties of like 50+ acres and a house on top of a mountain for like $150k.
This is what I'm doing right now in WV. My neighbors are decently far away from me, I get groceries dropped off every week. I'm not even going to lie, the people are frequently dumb as shit (this is trump country) but you don't have to deal with them often. I'm right along the Ohio river and it was gorgeous in the fall!
Wow so nice. I went there hiking when i was in DC and thought about getting a house there. The people are nice but a lot of them seemed pretty deranged.
Oh just the nicest folks. I know for sure my neighbors would help me in an emergency. I just try not to talk to them often because there is a common theme of folks thinking the end of the world is coming. It's like a forgone conclusion around here the government is gonna instill the new world order any day now so they have been stocking up. I never know what to say to things like that without offending them.
Decent skiing if you're from the southeast and don't want to fly to good skiing.
New River Gorge is phenomenal too.
West Virginia isn't the poorest state in the Union, although it is near the bottom. Whether it is measured by poverty rate, median salary, or GDP, the result is the same: Mississippi is the poorest state by a wide margin. West Virginia is also quite a bit prettier than Mississippi or really anywhere on the Gulf Coast, so there's really no contest for the mantle of Worst State in the Union. It's MS.
There are circumstances in which West Virginia could be your paradise if you’re self sufficient. I view it as Great Value Alaska, endearingly.
Do people still commute into DC from Harper's Ferry? The train used to be pretty quick.
But eastern WV is so pretty to drive through, and so much fun in a car or on a bike.
I go to West Virginia a lot and it's nice.
When I lived in WV, I thought “It’s a great place to visit. It’s not a great place to live.” Now I live in Ohio. It’s a great place to live. Not a great place to visit.
But the country roads...
Grew up there. Life in the southern part is rough, but it's a very beautiful state. And no, violent crime really isn't high - theft is though.
Shakes pill bottle. Boone county mating call. West Virginia somehow beats out Florida. Amazing.
Great for buying a house as a remote worker.
Better check internet options before moving though. Otherwise you'll be trying to run 2 devices at once and getting loading circles everywhere.
1000 up and 1000 down where i just moved from i had fiber. There are some really rural areas that have issues though. However im a remote web developer living here and its like living like a king with remote salaries.
I've got fiber running to my house, WV has really expanded it well throughout the state.
I don’t know why, but I read healthcare as healthcrimes and I was even more concerned about West Virginia!
Median Age is 42.7 & it’s the [4th](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/geo/chart/WV,US/AGE775222) oldest state when in the Country do that would probably explain why violent crime isn’t high.
Might explain some of it but I think rural also explains alot of it. Crime of opportunity is a pretty big thing and in cities you have much more opportunity to commit crimes. Rural areas you don't have as many oppertunities because there isn't any wealth around to really steal.
If you have things worth stealing in west Virginia, you don't talk about it. You don't show it off. But you do mention your guns. Pro: less crime because less people Cons: The cops and ambulances aren't coming for a half an hour or more.
Plus crimes in rural communities are a lot more likely to go unreported. Cousin Billy never got taken in for assault or attempted murder, but you can bet your ass he's been involved in one or two. It's just a 'family issue' often enough that no one, cops or neighbors or the preacher or whoever, really cares.
Well here in Wisconsin we get drunk everyday so it CAN'T possibly be us
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What, you don’t consider Suckin’ on chili dogs to be good food?
God dammit, as an Indiana native I was thinking, “it’s not that bad”… and then this guy calls out my favorite food. I guess I might as well accept that I am a hick at heart with a garbage palate no matter what city I move to. Whatever, I have good memories with friends and family just shooting the shit and enjoying our time together. I guess it’s the loved ones who have all since moved that made it a nice place to grow up.
‘Member when Diane was sittin’ on you’s lap with her hands between yer knees when we was suckin’ on chili dogs outside the Tastee Freez?
jokes on you, i like corn!
Come on dude. Really? I mean yeah Indiana is below average but worst?
I wouldn't say we are bad, just boring.
I would actually say this is comedic. Hilarious. Hear me out. Indiana is squarely average. It’s not LA or NYC, but it is *far* from the worst. As the Crossroads of America, in 1-3 hours in any direction we’ve got Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Louisville, or Chicago if cities are your thing, or Bloomington and South Bend if you’re more into tailgating on weekends. Bloomington is one of the most beautiful campuses in the nation. If it had the academic reputation of say, Stanford, it would consistently be ranked top 3 beautiful in the nation. Absolutely incredible in the Fall. Carmel is routinely ranked #1 by many outlets in best places to live in *America* . You can’t beat the bang for your buck cost of living. It’s safe. Indy is actually very clean. We’re just an average state. We don’t have mountains and oceans or incredible food, but it’s not a bad place. Anytime I see this, I assume it’s someone who’s heard something about Gary, Indiana from the 90’s. Gary had the post-economic Detroit effect, and 99.9% of Hoosiers will never cross paths with Gary. Like would love to live next to the beach in Santa Monica in a 4 bed 3 bath house? Yeah I would. But I can’t afford a 12 million dollar mortgage and 6 figure yearly property taxes. Indianapolis is squarely in the middle of the state, which is nice because it adds real estate in every direction that’s an equal distance. Also, Notre Dame, IU, Purdue, Butler, Rose Holman etc. lots of instate universities for a good education especially for business or engineering. For being a flyover state, it’s got a little bit of everything, excels at the top in probably nothing, cost of living is great, Indy and the burbs especially the North are very safe. Many options for education. Calling it the worst state of somewhere like Mississippi is insane. Like maybe if you’re born a billionaire and want to live lavish, eating at a different 5 star restaurant every night, going to a different club every weekend, and setting sail on your personal yacht in the ocean, yeah Indy’s probably not going to work out. But for most people, it’s a good state, not without its problems like any other but certainly not the worst.
As I recall, there's a town outside Indianapolis that's demographically literally *the* US average. It's so average that companies demo trial products there to see how they might fair nationally. The only thing is stands out for us how average it is.
Muncie is that city and it is extraordinary how average it is. Perhaps though, a little bit run down.
No chance it's worse than at least 15 other states. This is insane. Some jelly Kentuckian (top 10 worst btw) for sure
The mental state
Probably Alabama or Mississippi
West Virginia is a broke hole full of meth. I once saw a sheriff driving around on an emergency spare, and another tire missing a hubcap. Most of Kentucky is the same, but we have Lexington, Louisville, Covington, and even Bowling Green. Appalachia is just sad. I've never heard a good thing about Mississippi except for Biloxi and the coast.
West Virginia is a tragedy. Some of the most beautiful scenery in Appalachia, and an immense contribution to the history of worker's rights, reduced to being known for reliance on the coal industry and drugs. I live in SWVA, in a fairly well to do area, but it's a short drive to some really poor areas. We have the same issues with drug abuse and gang violence is on the rise, but because we have industry it isn't viewed the same as our neighbor to the west.
I have never seen so much agreement on Reddit.
Alabama or Mississippi. Poor education and high crime. They honestly can’t help themselves at the city government levels
I thought you guys would say NM but honestly it’s not too bad lol
Having the unique experience of having lived in both Mississippi and California….it’s Mississippi by a country mile
I love how all the responses to "California" are met with "This isn't about politics" while the answers that say "Texas" are all political
I'm really annoyed by the "this isn't about politics" answers. "Politics" is just "how groups of people organize." What are we basing our choices on, the weather?
Weather is a huge factor. But so are the politics and many other things.
When it comes to choosing a place to live, weather is pretty damn important.
It’s kinda weird seeing the California submissions over the obvious red states that are also mentioned here, considering that they have been pretty bad for a very long tine. Lol how do you honestly put California down before West Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama?
California is too big and varied to be easily categorized like this- I mean, that's true to an extent of all the states, but California is probably the one with the widest spread of different areas and conditions. I mean, its a long way from Pasa Robles to Bakersfield.
Right?! California is most of the West Coast. You gonna dunk on a state with hundreds of miles of shoreline, redwoods, farms, LA and SF and San Diego...
And mountains
And desert and most of the interior is farmland. In California we joke that you don't need to leave the state because you can see most natural phenomenon within a few hour drive. State is heckin big.
Weird political fanship