Here's the list of the top 50 Counties...
Posted on 08/07/2014 8:28:12 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
We’ve done a lot of rankings of places here at the Movoto Real Estate Blog for different criteria, like education or safety. But what if you’re just looking for a general area that has a lot to offer? We can help out there, too .
We have to give a nod to the East Coast on this one, because they sure wrapped up the top 10. Don’t worry, other states, there are plenty of you represented in the top 50.
See the full ranking and methodology, below.
This is one of those instances where the winner was a pretty obvious one, just by the rankings.
The median rent here was the highest on our list, which indicated that people are willing to shell out the big bucks to call this place home. The household income rank was also No. 1, so locals can earn enough to pay for those upscale apartments.
It also helps that most people here were employed. With the fourth lowest unemployment rate on our list, at 4.85 percent, and with only 2.51 percent of families being below the poverty line, locals are likely to be comfortable financially and career-wise.
Did we also mention that it had a high school graduation rate of over 93 percent? That certainly didn’t hurt in the rankings.
Though it wasn’t quite up to Loudoun standards, Douglas County was still pretty darn awesome. With the highest graduation rate, a whopping 97.2 percent, you’re bound to get a good education here or provide one for your family.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Graduation rates can be misleading. “Social promotion” can skew this measure big time.
This is great! Keep the idiots and their spawn in VA, PA, NJ, etc. We don’t need or want them in the West.
Loudon County, VA...number one because of employment?
Try most there being on the government teat and ruining what was once a lovely, rural, rolling hills and farmland with unchecked suburban sprawl....
1. Loudoun County, Virginia
2. Douglas County, Colorado
3. Fairfax County, Virginia
4. Chester County, Pennsylvania
5. Somerset County, New Jersey
6. Morris County, New Jersey
7. Washington County, Minnesota
8. Montgomery County, Maryland
9. Frederick County, Maryland
10. Rockingham County, New Hampshire
The governments parasites sucking the income from Middle Class families live in northern VA. Some day that will come to an abrupt halt.
Anyway, for what it’s worth, here’s their criteria for the list...
_____________________________________________________________________________________
The criteria we used, however, were a little different this time around. First, we made a list, using the 2010 Census, of all counties in the U.S. that had available data in the following areas:
Unemployment rate (the lower the better)
Median household income (the higher the better)
Median rent (the higher the better, to indicate area’s desirability)
Median home price (the higher the better, to indicate desirability)
Percent of families below the poverty line (the lower the better)
High school graduation rate (the higher the better)
That left us with a total of 640 counties. Any counties that did not have that data were omitted from our list.
Then, we ranked each county in each category from one to 640, with scores closer to one being better. Finally, we averaged each county’s rankings into one Big Deal Score, and the county with the lowest Big Deal Score number was our winner.
Most of these places have heavy traffic in common. Probably high incidences of Heart disease and Cancer too.
RE: How many of those top ranked counties are nestled around Washington D.C.?
8 of the top 50 are in the Maryland/Virginia area.
This list is insane...................
What do they mean by “best”? What are the criteria? Real estate prices? That’s a double edge sword, because the high prices mean that many people are priced out of these places.
why are so many of these counties near Washington, DC? Of over 3,000 counties in America, would you expect a disproportionate number on a list such as this, just happen to be near Washington? What are the reasons for this?
And most of them are democrat counties as well
The government parasites sucking their income from poorer Middle Class families across the nation live in northern VA. Some day that will come to an abrupt halt.
Maybe people should move to the top 10 instead of coming here and adding to our traffic and trying it change us to be like where they left.
Yeah I am in the number 22 best county in America. I wholeheartedly agree....although I believe we should be number one. We are so lucky to live in such a wonderful red county albeit in a blueish state.
Like most of these “best of” lists compiled by disconnected academics, this is largely a subjective exercise in futility.
RE: What do they mean by “best”? What are the criteria?
See Post #9 above.
Best???
When you have to reach 32 to see anything from Texas, I know they are using a scale for priorities to liberals, not for those that want to take care of themselves. More obvious by Philly and two DC suburbs being in the top 4.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.