DES MOINES – A financial advice website offered a study that claims Iowa has the worst economy in America, but folks disagree on just how good or bad things are here.
According to Wallethub, “In order to determine which states are pulling the most weight even during this time of economic difficulty caused by inflation, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 28 key indicators of economic performance and strength. Our data set ranges from GDP growth to startup activity to the share of jobs in high-tech industries.”
Chip Lupo, a Wallethub analyst, claims, “A strong state economy doesn’t guarantee success for the state’s residents, but it certainly makes financial success more attainable. Factors like a low unemployment rate and high average income help residents purchase property, pay down debt and save for the future. The best state economies also encourage growth by being friendly to new businesses and investing in new technology that will help the state deal with future challenges and become more efficient.”
In the analysis, coastal states seemed to generally do best, while “red” states fared poorly, overall (although Hawaii was 49th). Iowa was ranked #51, behind West Virginia at #50. North and South Dakota and Nebraska were poorly-ranked, as well, while Minnesota was #30. Massachusetts was #1, while California was #4.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has recently bragged on the state economy, touting a flat tax, corporate tax cuts, and a new Google data center coming to the Cedar Rapids area.