Why You Don't Want To Live In Republican-Heavy States In 2022

 By Best in Moderation

Self-Indulgent Intro

Well hello and welcome. If you clicked on this article, it's probably because you are a Democrat looking for some fun material to mock Republicans, a Republican looking to call me on a mistake, or a genuinely curious person who wants to see why I'm so adamantly sure in my headline. I hope I disappoint only one of you.

Because I've been doing data analysis on politics a long time. It's not a job, it's a hobby, stemming from my practical and education backgrounds. I like data. Looking at raw data is my porn. There's no better feeling to be had than to find a pattern in concrete information, on which a perspective, narrative or argument can be factually based. And I hope after reading this article, you can appreciate that feeling too.

Without any further ado, here we go:

The Claims

1. Living in a Republican-Heavy state leads to lower outcomes in reaction to the Pandemic and its health impacts.
2. Age and Obesity rates, while often cited by Republicans as an offset to why their COVID scores are so terrible, are not related to COVID outcomes.
3. Living in a Republican-Heavy state leads to lower outcomes in all aspects of life
4. Living in Republican-Heavy states can lead to you losing perspective as you are a significant minority of the nation.

The Sources

I use a lot of sources for data, but to make it simple I'll restrict myself to the following:

COVID results: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

Party affiliation: https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/compare/party-affiliation/by/state/

Obesity Rates: https://stateofchildhoodobesity.org/adult-obesity/

Median Age: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_median_age (Census Data)

Race Composition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_African-American_population (Census Data)

Poverty Rate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_poverty_rate (Census Data)

Per Life Category Rankings: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings (See their description of how these rankings are calculated and which elements are included)

The Data

First off, what are Republican-Heavy States? Well, I took the self-identification status of people in all states and ranked them by how much of a lean, Republican or Democrat, each had. Doing so I ended up with the following states as being Republican leaning:

Rank	State	Republican	Democratic	Difference
1	Wyoming	57%	25%	32%
2	Utah	54%	30%	24%
3	Montana	49%	30%	19%
4	Alabama	52%	35%	17%
5	Idaho	49%	32%	17%
6	North Dakota	50%	33%	17%
7	South Dakota	53%	37%	16%
8	Kansas	46%	31%	15%
9	Tennessee	48%	36%	12%
10	Nebraska	47%	36%	11%
11	Arkansas	46%	38%	8%
12	Alaska	39%	32%	7%
13	Indiana	42%	37%	5%
14	Oklahoma	45%	40%	5%

Secondly, I needed to know the COVID stats for each State. So I ranked the top ten the same way:

Rank	State	Infection Rate
1	North Dakota	1
2	Alaska	2
3	Tennessee	3
4	Wyoming	4
5	South Dakota	5
6	Utah	6
7	Rhode Island	7
8	Iowa	8
9	Montana	9
10	South Carolina	10

Rank	State	Death Rate
1	Mississippi	1
2	Alabama	2
3	New Jersey	3
4	Louisiana	4
5	Arizona	5
6	New York	6
7	Arkansas	7
8	Georgia	8
9	Florida	9
10	Oklahoma	10

Then I needed to know the obesity rate rankings, for claim 2:

Rank	State	Obesity Rank
1	Mississippi	1
2	West Virginia	2
3	Alabama	3
4	Louisiana	4
5	Indiana	5
6	Kentucky	6
7	Iowa	7
8	Delaware	7
9	Arkansas	9
10	Oklahoma	9

Followed by the Key Demographics (Age, Race, Poverty Level):

Rank	State	Median Age
1	Maine	45
2	New Hampshire	43.1
3	Vermont	43
4	West Virginia	42.9
5	Florida	42.5
6	Delaware	41.1
7	Connecticut	41.1
8	Pennsylvania	40.8
9	Rhode Island	40.1
10	Montana	40.1

Rank	State	Black Population
1	District of Columbia	41.40%
2	Mississippi	36.60%
3	Louisiana	31.40%
4	Georgia	31.00%
5	Maryland	29.50%
6	Alabama	25.80%
7	South Carolina	25.00%
8	Delaware	22.10%
9	North Carolina	20.50%
10	Virginia	18.60%
11	Tennessee	15.80%

Rank	State	Poverty
1	Mississippi	19.60%
2	Louisiana	19.00%
3	New Mexico	18.20%
4	Kentucky	16.30%
5	Arkansas	16.20%
6	West Virginia	16.00%
7	Alabama	15.50%
8	Oklahoma	15.20%
9	Tennessee	13.90%
10	South Carolina	13.80%

And lastly I needed the rankings of each state on the bottom of each living category:

Rank	STATE	HEALTH CARE
1	Mississippi	50
2	Arkansas	49
3	Oklahoma	48
4	West Virginia	47
5	Louisiana	46
6	Alabama	45
7	Kentucky	44
8	Georgia	43
9	Missouri	42
10	Kansas	41

Rank	STATE	EDUCATION
1	New Mexico	50
2	Alaska	49
3	Louisiana	48
4	Alabama	47
5	Arizona	46
6	West Virginia	45
7	South Carolina	44
8	Mississippi	43
9	Oklahoma	42
10	Arkansas	41

Rank	STATE	ECONOMY
1	Alaska	50
2	Mississippi	49
3	West Virginia	48
4	Louisiana	47
5	Hawaii	46
6	Wyoming	45
7	New Mexico	44
8	New York	43
9	Pennsylvania	42
10	Arkansas	41

Rank	STATE	INFRASTRUCTURE
1	West Virginia	50
2	Rhode Island	49
3	Mississippi	48
4	Louisiana	47
5	Connecticut	46
6	New Mexico	45
7	Pennsylvania	44
8	Arkansas	43
9	Massachusetts	42
10	New Jersey	41

Rank	STATE	OPPORTUNITY
1	California	50
2	New Mexico	49
3	Louisiana	48
4	Nevada	47
5	New York	46
6	Connecticut	45
7	Mississippi	44
8	Alaska	43
9	Wyoming	42
10	Colorado	41

Rank	STATE	FISCAL STABILITY
1	Illinois	50
2	New Jersey	49
3	Kentucky	48
4	Pennsylvania	47
5	Hawaii	46
6	Colorado	45
7	Rhode Island	44
8	Massachusetts	43
9	Louisiana	42
10	Mississippi	41

Rank	STATE	CRIME & CORRECTIONS
1	Louisiana	50
2	Alaska	49
3	Arkansas	48
4	New Mexico	47
5	South Carolina	46
6	Missouri	45
7	Oklahoma	44
8	Alabama	43
9	Tennessee	42
10	Colorado	41

Rank	STATE	NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
1	Nevada	50
2	Louisiana	49
3	Indiana	48
4	Utah	47
5	Alaska	46
6	Delaware	45
7	Ohio	44
8	Illinois	43
9	Oregon	42
10	Arizona	41

The Comparisons

COVID Impact:

Looking across the data, we're trying to find trends in the infection and death rates of states. First we will run the comparison for Infection Rate, then for Death Rate.

Rank	State	Infection Rate	R/L Lean	Obesity Rank	Median Age	Age Rank	Black Population	Poverty
1	North Dakota	1	17%	22	35.3	47	3.90%	10.60%
2	Alaska	2	7%	26	35	48	3.00%	10.10%
3	Tennessee	3	12%	13	39	24	15.80%	13.90%
4	Wyoming	4	32%	33	38.4	30	0.90%	10.10%
5	South Dakota	5	16%	21	37.4	39	2.00%	11.90%
6	Utah	6	24%	40	31.3	51	1.20%	8.90%
7	Rhode Island	7	-18%	36	40.1	9	5.70%	10.80%
8	Iowa	8	1%	7	38.5	28	4.10%	11.20%
9	Montana	9	19%	41	40.1	10	0.50%	12.60%
10	South Carolina	10	4%	11	39.9	12	25.00%	13.80%

What we can tell right away is that there is only one Democratic State in the top ten infection rate category, with 5 Deep Red States, and the rest leaning Red.
The average Obesity rate rank is 25, showing no impact whatsoever.
The Median Age Rank average is 29.8, which means there is a small relationship that states with a younger population scoring higher in the infection rate.
Black population rank average is 35.1, which means there is a very strong relationship with more non-black states having higher infection rates.
Poverty rate rank average is 29.1, showing a small relationship that states with less poverty have a higher infection rate.

All of the above holds true as well for the bottom 10, with:

Rank	State	Infection Rate	R / L Lean	Obesity Rank	Median Age	Age Rank	Black Population	Black Population Rank	Poverty	Poverty Rank
1	Hawaii	51	-23%	48	39.6	17	1.60%	45	9.30%	46
2	Vermont	50	-28%	46	43	3	1.40%	47	10.20%	37
3	Maine	49	-11%	29	45	1	1.90%	44	10.90%	33
4	Oregon	48	-15%	43	39.6	16	2.00%	43	11.40%	29
5	District of Columbia	47	-62%	50	34.2	50	41.40%	1	13.50%	14
6	Maryland	46	-24%	29	39.1	23	29.50%	5	9.00%	49
7	Washington	45	-11%	44	37.8	37	4.00%	37	9.80%	43
8	Virginia	44	4%	25	38.6	27	18.60%	10	9.90%	42
9	Connecticut	43	-18%	38	41.1	7	10.80%	22	10.00%	40
10	New Hampshire	42	-9%	37	43.1	2	1.50%	46	7.30%	51

All but one State lean Democratic, with 6 Deep Blue States.
The average Obesity rate rank is 25, showing no impact whatsoever.
The Median Age Rank average is 18.3, which means there is a strong relationship that states with a Older population are scoring lower in the infection rate.
Black population rank average is 30, which means there is a relationship with more non-black states having lower infection rates.
Poverty rate rank average is 29.1, showing there is a slight relationship that states with less poverty have a lower infection rate. *

And then there is the Death Rate:

Rank	State	Death Rate	R / L Lean	Obesity Rank	Median Age	Age Rank	Black Population	Black Population Rank	Poverty	Poverty Rank
1	Mississippi	1	2%	1	38	35	36.60%	2	19.60%	1
2	Alabama	2	17%	3	39.4	19	25.80%	6	15.50%	7
3	New Jersey	3	-21%	45	40.1	11	13.10%	17	9.20%	47
4	Louisiana	4	-2%	4	37.5	38	31.40%	3	19.00%	2
5	Arizona	5	1%	31	38.2	34	4.70%	34	13.50%	13
6	New York	6	-25%	46	39.2	20	14.80%	14	13.00%	18
7	Arkansas	7	8%	9	38.5	29	15.10%	12	16.20%	5
8	Georgia	8	0%	17	37.1	41	31.00%	4	13.30%	15
9	Florida	9	-7%	42	42.5	5	15.10%	13	12.70%	20
10	Oklahoma	10	5%	9	36.9	45	7.30%	26	15.20%	8

Here we can see more variety, with 5 states leaning right but only one Deep Red state, and 4 states leaning left, but with two Deep Blue states. Georgia makes up true middle, so there is no relationship to be found here.
Obesity average is 20.7, which means there is a slight relationship between there being more obesity and higher covid death rate
Median age average is 27.2, which means there is no relationship between age and higher covid death rate.
The black population average is 13.1, which indicates a strong relationship between a higher black population and a higher covid death rate
Poverty average is 13.6, which indicates a strong relationship between higher poverty levels and a higher covid death rate

Compare that to the bottom 10:

Rank	State	Death Rate	R / L Lean	Obesity Rank	Median Age	Age Rank	Black Population	Black Population Rank	Poverty	Poverty Rank
1	Vermont	51	-28%	46	43	3	1.40%	47	10.20%	37
2	Hawaii	50	-23%	48	39.6	17	1.60%	45	9.30%	46
3	Maine	49	-11%	29	45	1	1.90%	44	10.90%	33
4	Utah	48	24%	40	31.3	51	1.20%	48	8.90%	50
5	Alaska	47	7%	26	35	48	3.00%	40	10.10%	38
6	Oregon	46	-15%	43	39.6	16	2.00%	43	11.40%	29
7	Washington	45	-11%	44	37.8	37	4.00%	37	9.80%	43
8	New Hampshire	44	-9%	37	43.1	2	1.50%	46	7.30%	51
9	Nebraska	43	11%	18	36.8	46	4.90%	33	9.90%	41
10	Colorado	42	-1%	51	37.1	42	4.10%	36	9.30%	45

Here we see 7 blue states, 3 of them Deep Blue, and three red states, 1 of them Deep Red. There is a slight relationship between more Democratic people and lower COVID death rate.
Obesity ranks in at 38.2, showing a strong relationship between lower obesity and lower COVID death rate.
Age comes in at 26.3, showing no relationship to lower covid death rate
Black population comes in at 41.9, again showing a strong relationship between a higher non-black population and lower COVID death rate.
Poverty come in at 41.3, also showing a strong relationship between a lower poverty and lower COVID death rate.

Political Leaning versus State of Living

For the last comparison, we need to look at the state rankings and compare to political leanings:

First off we do Republican States:

Rank	State	R / L Lean	HEALTH CARE	EDUCATION	ECONOMY	INFRASTRUCTURE	OPPORTUNITY	FISCAL STABILITY	CRIME & CORRECTIONS	NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
1	Wyoming	32%	38	21	45	8	42	34	21	13
2	Utah	24%	11	10	1	5	30	5	8	47
3	Montana	19%	36	32	19	13	35	19	34	24
4	Alabama	17%	45	47	38	28	37	22	43	37
5	Idaho	17%	24	29	3	10	24	4	10	12
6	North Dakota	17%	27	25	32	4	23	16	18	8
7	South Dakota	16%	29	19	30	14	27	2	35	3
8	Kansas	15%	41	23	31	7	16	39	27	16
9	Tennessee	12%	40	33	16	17	21	3	42	39
10	Nebraska	11%	28	9	20	6	10	17	31	6
11	Arkansas	8%	49	41	41	43	22	14	48	30
12	Alaska	7%	22	49	50	40	43	1	49	46
13	Indiana	5%	32	22	21	32	7	32	24	48
14	Oklahoma	5%	48	42	37	21	26	25	44	34

Healthcare scores are at a 33.57 Average, meaning that there is a strong relationship with Republican states having lower ranks in Healthcare
Education average is 28.74, meaning there is a slight relationship with Republican states having lower ranks in Education.
Economy ranks in at 27.4, showing a very slight relationship with Republican states having a lower rank in Economy.
Infrastructure has an average of 17.71, showing a strong relationship with Republican states having a higher rank in Infrastructure.
Opportunity averages in at 25.9, showing no relationship between Republican states and Opportunity.
Fiscal Stability comes in at 16.6, showing a strong relationship between Republican states having a higher rank in Fiscal Stability.
Crime and Corrections comes in at 31, showing a relationship between Republican states having a lower rank in Crime and Corrections.
Natural Environment comes in at 25.9, showing no relationship between Republican states and Natural Environment.

Now it's time for Democratic States:

Rank	State	R / L Lean	HEALTH CARE	EDUCATION	ECONOMY	INFRASTRUCTURE	OPPORTUNITY	FISCAL STABILITY	CRIME & CORRECTIONS	NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
1	Massachusetts	-29%	2	2	5	42	36	43	4	4
2	Vermont	-28%	18	15	25	12	17	37	3	9
3	Delaware	-26%	14	24	24	25	14	12	39	45
4	New York	-25%	7	16	43	30	46	20	11	5
5	Maryland	-24%	6	14	35	38	15	29	22	11
6	Hawaii	-23%	1	27	46	33	34	46	12	1
7	New Jersey	-21%	4	1	33	41	19	49	5	33
8	California	-19%	5	20	10	31	50	36	28	35
9	Connecticut	-18%	3	6	22	46	45	30	6	28
10	Rhode Island	-18%	9	39	28	49	32	44	7	7
11	Oregon	-15%	17	35	14	2	31	13	40	42
12	Illinois	-15%	23	11	39	26	12	50	16	43
13	Michigan	-13%	35	38	29	35	5	38	30	32
14	Washington	-11%	8	4	4	3	25	6	19	15
15	Maine	-11%	26	28	36	37	29	26	2	14
16	New Mexico	-11%	33	50	44	45	49	35	47	31
17	New Hampshire	-9%	13	13	11	34	3	33	1	2
18	Nevada	-9%	39	40	6	1	47	27	36	50
19	Minnesota	-7%	16	17	15	9	2	21	15	10
20	Pennsylvania	-7%	19	37	42	44	11	47	17	38
21	Florida	-7%	25	3	8	20	33	8	26	18

Healthcare scores are at a 15.4 Average, meaning that there is a very strong relationship with Democratic states having higher ranks in Healthcare
Education average is 20.9, meaning there is a relationship with Democratic states having higher ranks in Education.
Economy ranks in at 24.7, showing no relationship between Democratic states and Economy.
Infrastructure has an average of 28.7, showing a slight relationship with Democratic states having a lower rank in Infrastructure.
Opportunity averages in at 26.4, showing no relationship between Democratic states and Opportunity.
Fiscal Stability comes in at 30.9, showing a relationship between Democratic states having a lower rank in Fiscal Stability.
Crime and Corrections comes in at 18.4, showing a strong relationship between Democratic states having a higher rank in Crime and Corrections.
Natural Environment comes in at 22.5, showing a slight relationship with Democratic states having a higher rank in Natural Environment.

It is interesting to note the Top Tens of each category:

Healthcare: All Democratic or left leaning (8 Deep, 1 Lean and 1 Purple)
Education: Mostly Democratic or left leaning (3 Deep Blue, 2 Lean Blue, 3 Purple, 1 Lean Red, 1 Deep Red)
Economy: Mostly Democratic or left leaning (2 Deep Blue, 3 Lean Blue, 3 Purple, 2 Deep Red)
Infrastructure: Mostly Republican or right leaning (5 Deep Red, 1 Lean Red, 3 Lean Blue, 1 Deep Blue)
Opportunity: Mostly Purple (3 Deep Purple, 2 Lean Purple, 2 Lean Red, 3 Lean Blue)
Fiscal Stability: Mostly Republican or right leaning (3 Deep Red, 2 Lean Red, 3 Purple, 2 Lean Blue)
Crime and Corrections: Mostly Democratic or left leaning (5 Deep Blue, 2 Lean Blue, 1 Purple, 2 Deep Red)
Natural Environment: Mostly Democratic or left leaning (5 Deep Blue, 2 Lean Blue, 1 Lean Red, 2 Deep Red)

And the Bottom Tens in each Category:

Healthcare: All Purple or Republican (2 Deep Red, 2 Lean Red, 6 Purple)
Education: Mostly Purple or Republican leaning (5 Purple, 1 Lean Blue, 3 Lean Red)
Economy: Neutral with a Democratic leaning (2 Deep Blue, 2 Lean Blue, 3 Purple, 2 Lean Red, 1 Deep Red)
Infrastructure: Mostly Democratic or left leaning (4 Deep Blue, 2 Lean Blue, 3 Purple, 1 Lean Red)
Opportunity: Mostly Democratic or left leaning (3 Deep Blue, 2 Lean Blue, 3 Purple, 1 Lean Red, 1 Deep Red)
Fiscal Stability: All Purple or Democratic (5 Deep Blue, 1 Lean Blue, 4 Purple)
Crime and Corrections: Mostly Republican or right leaning (1 Deep Red, 4 Lean Red, 4 Purple, 1 Lean Blue)
Natural Environment: Somewhat Democratic or left leaning (3 Deep Blue, 1 Lean Blue, 3 Purple, 2 Lean Red, 1 Deep Red)

The Analysis

Based on the data above, we can come up with a few analysis points:

Higher COVID Infections:

• There is a strong relationship between being in a Republican-Heavy State and higher COVID infection rates.
  • Aside from Rhode Island, Republican states dominate the top infection rates.
• There is no impact from Obesity on infection rate
• There is a slight impact from having less poverty and having a younger population on higher infection rates.
• There is a significant impact on having less black population and having a higher infection rate.

Lower COVID Infections:

• There is a strong relationship between being in a Republican-Low State and having a lower COVID infection rate.
  • Only Purple Virginia breaks this trend
• There is no relationship from obesity on lower COVID Infection rates
• There is a slight impact from having less poverty on a lower infection rate (yes, this means that the slight impact on both low and high are probably nothing, and cancel one another out)
• There is a relationship between having less black population and having a lower infection rate (yes, this also means that there is a contradiction, and while there is a significant difference in impact less black populations having more COVID infections, the highest black population areas fall into the middle infection rates. Consider this then a slight relationship between less black people = more infection rate).
• There is a significant impact in that older-population states have less infections

Higher COVID Death Rate:

• There is no pattern to higher death rates by political leaning, as both deep red, deep blue and deep purple states rank in the top.
  • Red States rank a bit higher, but Blue states are a bit Bluer. This also has to do with New York and New Jersey being general outliers of most trends.
• There is no relationship between higher age and a higher COVID Death rate.
• There is a slight relationship between higher obesity and higher covid death rates
• There are strong relationships between poverty or having a higher black population and COVID death rates.

Lower COVID Death Rate:

• There is a slight relationship between more Democratic people and lower COVID death rate.
  • Utah is an exception, one we will talk about more later
• There is no relationship between higher age and lower COVID death rates.
• There are strong relationships between states that have lower poverty, lower obesity, and lower black populations and lower COVID death rates.

Life Aspect Scores:

• Healthcare: There are strong relationships here between political leaning and healthcare; Republican states score low and Democratic states score high, consistently.
• Education: There is a slight relationship for education, with Democratic states scoring higher on average.
• Economy: There is a very slight relationship for Economy, again favoring Democratic states.
• Infrastructure: Republican states do significantly better in Infrastructure scores (quality of states' bridges, public transportation, power grids, broadband) but Democratic states do not do worse than average.
• Opportunity: There is no relationship between political leaning and Opportunity (housing affordability and equality for women, minorities and people with disabilities), but there is a right lean to higher poverty rates nationwide.
• Fiscal Stability: Republican states are significantly more stable, fiscally, while there is a lower fiscal stability associated with Democratic states (government credit ratings, liquidity, pension fund liability and budget balancing)
• Crime and Corrections: Democratic states are significantly better in Crimes and Corrections, with Republican states scoring significantly lower as well.
• Natural Environment: There's mostly no relationship here, aside from a slight advantage for Democratic States.

Exceptions:

• Freaking Utah. Very high Republican score, very high infection rate, but very low death rate, very high age, very low obesity, black population, and poverty. High scores in Economy, Infrastructure, Fiscal Stability and Crime, with good scores in Healthcare and Education.
• New York and New Jersey. Very high Democratic scores, high healthcare rating and low infection rate, low obesity rate, but higher death rates than most.

Population:

• One additional point for claim four is to look at population versus political affiliation.
  • Republican States count at 14, with a total population of 39,305,901.
    • 8 are Deep Red (15% of more difference between Republican and Democratic populations) (population: 16,103,780)
    • 6 lean right (population: 23,202,121)
  • Purple States count at 15, with a total population of 117,511,869
    • 5 lean slightly right (population: 30,141,629)
    • 2 lean slightly left (population: 15,136,878)
    • 8 are Deep Purple (population: 72,233,362)
  • Democratic states count at 21, with a total population of 170,716,004
    • 12 are Deep Blue (population: 106,019,737)
    • 9 lean left (population: 65,402,016)

• This means that Republican-dominated states only make up 4.91% of the USA, while Democratic-dominated states make up 32.3% of the USA.
  • Even lumping all right leaning areas and all left leaning areas together, you still get 21.16% Republican versus 56.84% Democratic, and 22.01% Purple.
  • Even if you include every single Purple state, even the left leaning ones, into the Republican side, you still have 47.78% Republican versus 52.22% Democratic

The Conclusion:

Going down the list of claims:

1. Living in a Republican-Heavy state leads to lower outcomes in reaction to the Pandemic and its health impacts.
   1. Half-True
   2. You are far likelier to get infected and suffer those problems, but there is no significant impact on the COVID death rate.
      .
      
2. Age and Obesity rates, while often cited by Republicans as an offset to why their COVID scores are so terrible, are not related to COVID outcomes.
   1. Mostly True
   2. Age has no impact on either infection or death rates, and shows only indicators for YOUNGER populations being more at risk.
   3. Obesity rates don't significantly impact a higher death rate, but they do impact a lower one, meaning it's still better to not be obese.
      .
      
3. Living in a Republican-Heavy state leads to lower outcomes in all aspects of life
   1. Mostly True but with 2 significant exceptions
   2. While Republican heavy states score exceptionally low in many aspects of living, including Education, Healthcare, General Economy and Crime, they dominate Fiscal Stability and generally have good Infrastructure.
   3. Utah is also a great exception to the rule, ranking high in most aspects.
   4. Washington State dominates most other states in the rankings, as well as being a good haven against COVID infections and death rates.
      .
      
4. Living in Republican-Heavy states can lead to you losing perspective as you are a significant minority of the nation.
   1. Subjective, but strong indicators, with a caveat for Democrats.
   2. Sharing the mindset of only 5% of the nation, but being surrounded by it, can easily convince one that their way of thinking is the dominant one nationwide.
   3. On the other hand, sharing the mindset of a third of the nation while surrounded by people of similar mindsets can also give a feeling of there only being one way of thinking
   4. With 35% of the nation living in the middle, it is easy to lose sight of the other sides, especially if your side makes up over half of the national population.

Basically, you don't want to live in a Republican Heavy State because while your state may stay viable, you will most likely not, as you will have issues with medical safety, healthcare in general, a lack of education, a poor environment, a middling economy and more crime, all while the people around you think they represent the majority while being a very small minority of the nation. That's not a deal I would take, and I don;t think many others given the choice would choose that, free from tribal identity politics.

Ok, so this is where I leave you. Please peruse the numbers and chat below if you have some insights or arguments to counter my points.