Maine Is Ranked New England’s Worst State

At first, I obviously want to call this article out, because obviously whoever wrote it, has never been to Maine. But in their annual Best To Worst States list, U.S. News and World Report says Maine comes in at 32. Seriously. 32!! How can a state as beautiful as Maine possible place so far behind?

Even fishier, New Hampshire came in at #2. I feel like the author must live in Portsmouth or something. What's NH got that we don't? We have more beaches, more scenic ocean views. Sure they have the White Mountains, but we have tall things in Maine too. Ever hear of Katahdin, jerks?

All kidding aside, there were 70 categories on which each state was judged, and while Maine scored super high on a few things, there are some we couldn't compete. New Hampshire has no state tax, so right out of the gate, you get to keep more of your paycheck.

Maine scored great on crime, but the bottom really fell out on things like education, infrastructure, and job opportunities. And we did surprisingly poor on environmental issues. We ranked 39th overall in the environment. you'd think a state with two huge national parks would come in higher.

Our New England neighbors, Vermont and Massachusetts, also scored in the top 10, at #5 and $8 respectively. Now Vermont I could get behind. Been there many times, and it's a magical place. But Massachusetts can just suck it. Connecticut even scored higher than us, but still pretty far down at #21. Rhode Island placed just ahead of us at #28.

But really, who cares? I love where I live, despite all the challenges there may be. I will always think Maine is absolutely the greatest state to live in. So this list means nothing as far as I'm concerned. And, we can do what we Mainers do best.... Not give a crap what anybody else thinks about us.