(The Center Square) – With the Fourth of July just around the corner, it seems appropriate to find out that Washington is one of the most independent or self-sufficient states in the nation, according to a new survey released by WalletHub.
The personal finance website compared all 50 states based on five sources of dependency to determine its rankings: consumer finances, the government, the job market, international trade and personal vices. Those five sources were then broken down into 39 key indicators of self-sufficiency.
“Washington is the 4th most independent state in America,” WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez emailed The Center Square. “The state’s median credit score is amongst the highest, which demonstrates that its residents are creditworthy and have strong financial responsibility. On top of that, 71.3% of adults in Washington have rainy-day and emergency funds.”
That’s good news for the Evergreen State, she said.
“These factors directly contribute to the state’s low financial dependency,” Gonzalez noted. “As the second-least federally dependent state, it seems Washington funds the majority of its own projects and initiatives, which significantly influences their government dependency, where it ranks 5th.”
Washington bested its Pacific Northwest neighbors in WalletHub’s survey, with Idaho ranking No. 7 and Oregon coming in at No. 35.
The 10 most independent states are:
1. Utah
2. Colorado
3. Florida
4. Washington
5. Virginia
6. California
7. Idaho
8. Massachusetts
9. Wisconsin
10. Iowa
The top 10 least independent states are:
50. Louisiana
49. Mississippi
48. Kentucky
47. Alaska
46. West Virginia
45. South Carolina
44. Alabama
43. Indiana
42. Tennessee
41. New Mexico
