I hate to do this, but here’s a story on Forbes.com about how awesome the driving experience is in North Dakota. This online magazine has been pretty kind to our state, putting us in the national rankings now and again and touting our sweet, sweet oil-soaked economy. I hate that I feel so grateful for a little national attention, but I think it’s part of becoming North Dakotan.
You can read the story for yourself, but here are some data and links that may explain things better than the Forbes.com story. It annoys the hell out of me that they never publish the entire list, just the Top 10 and the Bottom 10 and don’t link to the sources they cite. So I found them all.
Here are the Top 10 states for drivers (I’ll explain how the writer arrived at this in a bit.):
- 1. South Carolina
- 2. Nebraska
- 3. Missouri
- 4. North Dakota
- 5. Mississippi
- 6. Texas
- 7. Kansas
- 8. New Hampshire (tie)
- 8. Wyoming (tie)
- 10. Tennessee (tie)
- 10. Arizona (tie)
Here are the Bottom 10:
- 1. California
- 2. Illinois
- 3. New York
- 4. Michigan
- 5. Alaska
- 6. Maryland
- 7. Connecticut (tie)
- 7. Rhode Island (tie)
- 9. Louisiana
- 10. Washington
So here’s how Forbes.com decided on the ranking: gas prices, insurance rates, infrastructure/safety and legal protections for drivers, meaning cops and courts don’t exploit them with lots of speed traps, etc.
Here are the rankings on gas prices, via GasBuddy.com, from lowest price to highest price (We don’t do too well here, though oil-soaked Alaska does worst.):
- 1. South Carolina
- 2. Texas
- 3. Arizona
- 4. Louisiana
- 5. Mississippi
- 6. Oklahoma
- 7. Arkansas
- 8. New Jersey
- 9. Tennessee
- 10. Alabama
- 11. Colorado
- 12. Missouri
- 13. Georgia
- 14. Virginia
- 15. Wyoming
- 16. Kansas
- 17. North Carolina
- 18. New Hampshire
- 19. Iowa
- 20. New Mexico
- 21. Kentucky
- 22. Maryland
- 23. Massachusetts
- 24. Delaware
- 25. Florida
- 26. Indiana
- 27. Utah
- 28. Ohio
- 29. Pennsylvania
- 30. Vermont
- 31. North Dakota
- 32. South Dakota
- 33. Washington, D.C.
- 34. Montana
- 35. Rhode Island
- 36. Wisconsin
- 37. Minnesota
- 38. Nevada
- 39. Maine
- 40. Nebraska
- 41. West Virginia
- 42. Michigan
- 43. Idaho
- 44. Oregon
- 45. New York
- 46. Illinois
- 47. Connecticut
- 48. Washington
- 49. California
- 50. Alaska
- 51. Hawaii
Here are the rankings on insurance rates, via Insure.com, from highest to lowest:
- 1. Louisiana
- 2. Michigan
- 3. Oklahoma
- 4. Montana
- 5. California
- 6. South Dakota
- 7. Washington, D.C.
- 8. Georgia
- 9. Illinois
- 10. Connecticut
- 11. Arkansas
- 12. New Mexico
- 13. Rhode Island
- 14. West Virginia
- 15. Alaska
- 16. Wyoming
- 17. Maryland
- 18. Kansas
- 19. Kentucky
- 20. Colorado
- 21. Mississippi
- 22. New Jersey
- 23. New York
- 24. Texas
- 25. Florida
- 26. Pennsylvania
- 27. Delaware
- 28. Missouri
- 29. Minnesota
- 30. Alabama
- 31. North Dakota
- 32. Hawaii
- 33. Indiana
- 34. Nevada
- 35. Washington
- 36. Utah
- 37. Virginia
- 38. Nebraska
- 39. Oregon
- 40. Idaho
- 41. South Carolina
- 42. Tennessee
- 43. Arizona
- 44. North Carolina
- 45. Massachusetts
- 46. Iowa
- 47. New Hampshire
- 48. Wisconsin
- 49. Ohio
- 50. Vermont
- 51. Maine
Here are rankings on infrastructure/safety, via Reason Foundation, from best to worst (We really shined here. It’s worth noting that the per mile cost of our infrastructure is lower than many other states’, so the roads are good and they’re cheap, too. For the below list, see page 15 of the PDF.):
- North Dakota 1
- Montana 2
- Kansas 3
- New Mexico 4
- Nebraska 5
- South Carolina 6
- Wyoming 7
- Missouri 8
- Georgia 9
- Oregon 10
- Delaware 11
- South Dakota 12
- Texas 13
- Kentucky 14
- Nevada 15
- Mississippi 16
- Idaho 17
- Virginia 18
- Tennessee 19
- Alabama 20
- North Carolina 21
- Utah 22
- Indiana 23
- Ohio 24
- Minnesota 25
- Arizona 26
- New Hampshire 27
- Wisconsin 28
- Arkansas 29
- West Virginia 30
- Iowa 31
- Maine 32
- Washington 33
- Colorado 34
- Michigan 35
- Louisiana 36
- Oklahoma 37
- Pennsylvania 38
- Florida 39
- Illinois 40
- Connecticut 41
- Vermont 42
- Maryland 43
- Massachusetts 44
- New Jersey 45
- New York 46
- Hawaii 47
- California 48
- Alaska 49
- Rhode Island 50
Here are the rankings on legal protections, via the National Motorists Association, from worst to best (We also really shined here. I agree. Having driven in other states with draconian traffic fines, among other things, North Dakota is paradise. And the low fines have not lead to a rash of bad driving, which only goes to show that fines are just a way for the governments to make money.):
- 1. New Jersey
- 2. Ohio
- 3. Maryland
- 4. Louisiana
- 5. New York
- 6. Illinois
- 7. Delaware
- 8. Virginia
- 9. Washington
- 10. Massachusetts
- 11. Colorado
- 12. Oregon
- 13. Tennessee
- 14. California
- 15. Michigan
- 16. Vermont
- 17. Maine
- 18. Florida
- 19. Pennsylvania
- 20. North Carolina
- 21. Alabama
- 22. Rhode Island
- 23. West Virginia
- 24. New Hampshire
- 25. Arizona
- 26. New Mexico
- 27. Missouri
- 28. Texas
- 29. Oklahoma
- 30. Nevada
- 31. Georgia
- 32. Connecticut
- 33. South Carolina
- 34. Iowa
- 35. Hawaii
- 36. Arkansas
- 37. Alaska
- 38. Kansas
- 39. Mississippi
- 40. Wisconsin
- 41. Utah
- 42. South Dakota
- 43. Indiana
- 44. Minnesota
- 45. North Dakota
- 46. Kentucky
- 47. Nebraska
- 48. Montana
- 49. Idaho
- 50. Wyoming
Wait, are you still reading this? The Web is big; go read something fun!
I must agree with that. When I used to live in SD and would drive to Bismarck, you could always tell where SD ended and ND began (since that particular road didn’t have state signs) because once you hit ND the road would be well maintained. I seriously expected Wyoming to rank higher though, because the roads there are the best I have seen anywhere. Can’t win’m all! :)
What’s up with the blog, dog?