Alabama ranks ahead of Louisiana in football. That’s a given.
But the latest dispatch from 24/7 Wall St., a digital business news website since 2006 which publishes more than 30 news articles per day, many of which rank states and cities on job markets, crime, health, income, and overall quality of living, places Louisiana behind Alabama in education, as well.
But while Crimson Tide fans may be holding up their Number One foam fingers and proclaiming to the world their superiority on the football field, their rallying cry in education is likely to be, “At least we aren’t Louisiana.”
We here in Louisiana, meanwhile, will have to be content with “At lease we aren’t Arkansas, Mississippi or West Virginia.”
In its rankings of America’s most- and least-educated states, 24/7 Wall St. has the Bayou State locked in at number 47 with only 23.4 percent of adults holding at least a bachelor’s degree. That’s fourth-lowest in the nation as is the state’s median household income of $45,146. Nationally, 31.3 percent of adults have at least a bachelor’s degree, 7.9 percent higher than Louisiana.
The next three are Arkansas (22.4 percent with bachelor’s degrees and also third-lowest in median household income at $44,334), Mississippi (21.8 percent with bachelor’s degrees and with the lowest median household income of $41,754), and West Virginia (20.8 percent with bachelor’s degrees and with the second-lowest median household income of $43,385).
Louisiana also had the third highest unemployment rate of 6.1 percent. West Virginia had the fourth highest unemployment rate (6.0 percent), and Mississippi’s unemployment rate of 5.8 percent was seventh highest in the nation. Arkansas, despite having the third lowest median income and the third lowest percentage of college graduates, somehow managed to have the 15th lowest unemployment rate (4.0 percent).
So, just where does Alabama fit in the mix? How about 44th, or seventh lowest, with 24.7 percent of adults with at least a bachelor’s degree.
Louisiana also ranks slightly behind Alabama in median household income. ‘Bama is one spot ahead of Louisiana with a median income of $46,257 (5th lowest) and is tied with Louisiana with an unemployment rate of 6.0 percent (4th highest).
With all this negativity, which state is number one in education?
That would be Massachusetts with 42.7 percent of its adult population holding at least a bachelor’s degree (that’s 19 percentage points more than Louisiana). And in contrast to Louisiana’s fourth-lowest median household income, Massachusetts had the fourth highest at $75,297.
Massachusetts had the 10th lowest unemployment rate (3.7 percent) and the fourth-highest median earnings for bachelor’s degree holders ($60,503). Louisiana’s median income for degree-holders was $46,163 (15th lowest), while Arkansas had the 12th lowest ($45,963), Mississippi the 5th lowest ($42,130), and West Virginia the 6th lowest ($42,318). Alabama’s median income for bachelor’s degree holders was right in the middle of the pack at 24th ($48,790).
Have you ever wondered why Louisiana’s political leaders just can’t seem to pull us out of the mire that continues to define our state?
And, here’s another one (where we rank 48th):
https://wallethub.com/edu/happiest-states/6959/
Today’s (and every day’s) question: Why are we still here?
Another in a series of couples we know and like are moving – to Alabama of all places. Sheeeeeeeeesh.
I just sent my state rep. a note asking him if any of his colleagues care that we are already at the bottom in most good things and moving DOWN.
He may be too busy weighing strippers to respond.
🙂
If it wasn’t for the gas and oil industry, LA would probably be the lowest in everything. On-the-other-hand, if it wasn’t for the gas and oil industry, LA might be further up the list, particularly in education. It would be interesting to see some correlations relative to jobs. I am guessing that many jobs in LA are linked to extracting natural resources i.e. gas, oil, forests, fisheries, crops. Most of these jobs require very little education and in general are low paying. My wife and I have our home for sale and are planning to move from LA. Ten years of retirement living with an inefficient state government is enough.
Sir, believe me I feel your pain more than you could ever know. It is disgusting to work all your life and stand by and watch the creme of the creme (that is what they THINK they are) benefit while we bust our chops to fund it all.
This state is corrupt to the core. I thought bringing in a new Governor would change things but I haven’t seen anything different yet but I am willing to give him more time to get it done. After all, the Governor and the A.G. INHERITED
this mess but it is also their job to clean it up. Time will tell all and the clock is ticking!
I hate to go out of state because when someone asks me where I am from, I hesitate with a lump in my throat, because the next questions coming back at me most of the time is about our CORRUPTION. Shameful, really shameful indeed. With all our good points, fishing, hunting, production of sugarcane, the oil field, our ports, the best healthcare professionals, alligators, frogs, crabs, shrimp, our Indian culture down the bayous the only thing strangers ask about is our corruption. This happened to us on a trolley bus in Washington when an older couple from Ohio recognized our accent and ask us this very question–How do you live in a state with so much Corruption and is it true that you people ride around in boats and pick moss out of trees? I had to explain that in the olden days people did pick the moss out of trees to make pillows and mattresses to sleep on. We didn’t deserve this to happen to us for saving our money to go on vacation and have to be confronted with this. These Parish, State and Federal officials should hang their heads and cry OR buy themselves a heck of a lot of fire insurance because when they get to hell they will need it for shaming all the hard working individuals in this State.
Good ole Terror-bonne (the good earth) that is if you belong to the creme of the creme, if not, to bad to sad for you but no problem just keeping working hard, pay your taxes and don’t dare open your mouth because if you do they will FIND something on you to make you pay.
And the states in the bottom five all voted overwhelmingly for Trump; given the low ratings, they certainly put the “red” in red.
You are so correct Octavio but remember this, the red was there before he got there. Just like the Governor and the A.G., Trump just got in there too. He inherited the same mess. Time will tell all.
It ain’t over until the fat angel sings and the swamps are drained DRY!
Like the old saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day but all of us TRUE Americans are here to stay!
God Bless America and all of its people, no matter what race you are, we are all equal in God’s eyes and at the end of the day his opinion is the only one that matters.[
But you’re seriously not expecting him to do anything about it are you? I mean something that would help the, uh, “lower classes”.
The Schools: my Louisiana grandchildren have had the misfortune to attend one of the worst schools in the state. One has graduated college, another working on her degree. I credit their Mom’s at home efforts and the wonderful teachers in the “Teach America” program. Then there’s my out of state grandchildren who attended one of the best public school systems anywhere. The high school offers classes that we here in La. could only dream of. One has graduated college and will start his masters program. The other about to start college.
The unfairness of this tore me apart and I am so proud of the fact they made it in spite of the hardships. So Tom, I, too, despise the corruption and how the state is shorting its future in the classrooms and colleges (as Mr. Winham is so familiar with-budget cuts)
Good morning Tom and I’m happy to be alive even in this quagmire we call home. Almost done with flood repair so I’m great until the next one hits.
Anyhow I enjoy your column immensely as well as the various readers who show that there are people who care for our dysfunctional state. I know your a stickler for detail. Early in this column you said Louisiana ranks over Alabama in median household income at $45,146 as opposed to median household office income of $46,257 in Alabama. I believe this would put us behind Bama in this his category as well. I either mis-read (quite likely) or it further reinforces your article. I do love Louisiana even with all its problems mostly because health problems won’t let me leave. Utah’s calling my name but I can’t pick up economically and it’s too far from the gulf anyhow.
Thank you for your great work exposing the myriad problems our state suffers from and elected leaders inability, tacit or otherwise, to try and solve. It’s sad that the majority of our populace have resigned themselves that this is how it must be.
You are absolutely correct! The correction has been made. Perhaps I should check the validity of my own education credentials
Hahaha! Totally unnecessary. I think you’ve proven your credentials many times over and I appreciate them. Please don’t paint me a Bama fan or anything. I just had a rare moment of clarity!
Okay, Tom, now you’ve got me really depressed. After spending decades working in state government with the mission of improving our quality of life and raising our state off the bottom of all the good lists and the top of the bad ones, I know we have collectively failed. Things are better than…sometime in the past, but all the good quality of life states have left us in the dust.
Our adult children left Louisiana for better job opportunities in Colorado (Denver and Boulder), and one just moved to Illinois to teach at a university. Both are proud of their Louisiana heritage, cook authentic Louisiana food for their friends, and always request boudin when we visit. Sure, they could still be living here but both really enjoy the Colorado lifestyle and vibe. We’ve been out to spend time, and enjoy the visits, but no way we’re moving there. The cost of living is prohibitive for retirees from Louisiana, and while it’s very nice, with great fall color, there is the snow and icy roads. As for smalltown Illinois, a lovely quaint small city set in the middle of cornfields, that’s not for us either.
So spouse and I started thinking, after reading your post, where in the US we would move it we just gave up on Louisiana. He’s a Washington state native and I’m a NOLA girl. We have friends and relatives in states from coast to coast. We could go anywhere we want. And there is not one that came to mind as a candidate for relocation. I’ve actually considered a couple of small cities in Honduras, since we’re there almost annually and it’s a short plane trip home. But bottom line, our relatives, friends, church, comfortable and affordable home are here, not to mention LouisianaVoice and all the righteous indignation that comes along with reading your posts. Where else can you get a good bowl of gumbo, tasty boudin, crawfish, gorgeous subtropical green for most of the year and camellias and sasanquas in the less colorful months, with loving people who never met strangers, hug when they meet and give everybody’s babies a little shugah? So I guess we’ll have to dig in and accept the simple and sad fact that we still HAVE A HELLUVA LOT OF WORK TO DO to get this wonderful state off the bottom.