Land of Steady Habits is 4th Most Unpredictable State, Analysis Shows

Connecticut, long seen as the quintessential Land of Steady Habits, is surprisingly ranked as the nation’s fourth most unpredictable state in an analysis that appeared recently in the Orange County (CA) Record. The analysis brought together three recent surveys: Best State to Raise a Family, by WalletHub; Best Livability from Gallup; and “Best state” by U.S. News & World Report. The analysis included each state’s overall rankings plus the subcategory scores that helped produce the three scorecards, the newspaper reported.

The goal was to use “standard deviation” on the factors in the three studies to see if there were any patterns of predictability.  And some were, more than others.  Predictability was not necessarily reflective of high regard.  West Virginia, for example, finished near the bottom of two of the three surveys, and thus was “predictable,” finishing high in predictability because of finishing predictably low in the various surveys.

The most unpredictable state was New Jersey, followed by New Mexico and Idaho.  After fourth-ranking Connecticut were California, Florida, Rhode Island, Alaska, Arizona, Massachusetts and Hawaii.

On the other end of the spectrum, the most predictable state was Minnesota, followed by West Virginia, Nebraska, Louisiana, Michigan, Virginia, Colorado and Pennsylvania.

In the three surveys studied, Connecticut ranked 11^th, 24^th and 20^th.  The composite of the three scores ranked the state 17^th in the U.S. on the three rankings combined.  Its’ range in the subcategories was from third to forty-third – hence the unpredictability.