Washington ranked as the best state to live in for a millennial. Here’s who it beat out
Washington state is getting younger and hipper.
The Evergreen State has been ranked as the best state in America to live as a millennial, according to new rankings by personal finance website WalletHub.
Commercial real estate blog CommercialCafe also ranked two Washington metro areas as the best places to relocate for young adults in 2020: The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro area ranked No. 4 and the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro region on the Washington-Oregon border ranked No. 9.
But what exactly is a millennial? In 2018, the Pew Research Center defines a millennial as someone born between 1981 and 1996, meaning people who are currently between the ages of 25 and 41.
WalletHub used the same range of years as the Pew Research Center and calculated 34 different metrics to assign a score out of 100 for all 50 states plus the District of Columbia.
The metrics were assigned under five “key dimensions,” according to WalletHub, using sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Washington took the top spot in the rankings with an overall score of 67.45. Under the key dimensions, Washington ranked sixth in affordability, 17th in education and health, second in quality of life, third in economic health and sixth in civic engagement.
WalletHub also ranked Washington as having the fourth-highest percentage of millennials in the state. A 2018 study from Washington’s Office of Financial Management found that 21.9% of the state population is millennials.
Mississippi is ranked last, coming in behind West Virginia in 50th and New Mexico in 49th. Washington’s neighbor to the south, Oregon, ranks seventh, while Idaho is further down the list at 27th.
Who is Washington competing with?
According to WalletHub, here are the cities that Washington is ranked alongside in the top 5 places for a millennial to move to in America:
Washington
District of Columbia
Massachusetts
Utah
Illinois
Minnesota
Oregon
Wisconsin
Virginia
Colorado
This story was originally published June 2, 2022 at 11:35 AM with the headline "Washington ranked as the best state to live in for a millennial. Here’s who it beat out."
