I’m not sure how I missed this a couple of months ago but two researchers at George Mason released a paper in February titled Freedom in the 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom(full pdf.) Jason Sorens and William P. Ruger looked at each state’s personal, economic, fiscal, regulatory freedom. The results aren’t that surprising to me, but might shock some liberals.
The Northeast part of the country is the least free in the United States except for New Hampshire. In fact, New Hampshire tops the list. Here are the top ten free states.
1. New Hampshire
2. Colorado
3. South Dakota
4. Idaho
5. Texas
6. Missouri
7. Tennessee
8. Arizona
9. Virginia
10. North Dakota
Let’s take a look at the bottom dwellers. These states are all dark blue states. New York has the distinction of being the least free state in the Union. Many of New Hampshire’s neighbors are on the list.
40. Vermont
41. Connecticut
42. Illinois
43. Massachusetts
44. Washington
45. Hawaii
46. Maryland
47. California
48. Rhode Island
49. New Jersey
50. New York
Recent Comments