Michigan Named Among Worst States to Live In

Sometimes these studies catch me completely off guard. I haven't met a single person in my two years of living in Michigan who dislikes living here.

Sure, there are plenty of reasonable complaints for one thing or another as there are literally anywhere, but Michiganders have it pretty good, all things considered.

Nonetheless, a study was recently released by WalletHub that determined the best and worst states to live in based on important categories. Somehow, Michigan was named among the worst states.

Thankfully, Michigan didn't land in the basement with states like New Mexico, Arkansas and Mississippi. But they did land in the bottom half of the rankings overall at No. 32. Believe it or not, that's two states behind Ohio.

I'm not sure which reality exists where Ohio is a better state to live in over Michigan, so we'll have to dive into the numbers and see why Michigan ranked so poorly in this study.

One area Michigan performed exceptionally well in was quality of life. Maybe it's just me, but Quality of Life could understandably be the leading cause of whether you enjoy living in your state. Michigan ranked No. 10 in this category.

In WalletHub's methodology, there are a few things the Quality of Life category that Michigan isn't particularly strong at (road conditions being a prime example), however, things like entertainment variety and commute times work in Michigan's favor quite well.

Michigan also ranked strongly in affordability, landing at No. 15. However, many of the states in the top 15 with few exceptions struggled in every other category just like Michigan. Many of the cheapest places to rent or buy aren't always safe or in quality school zones, so the benefit is inevitably a net-negative. Still, all Michiganders do enjoy a lower cost of living than most states, so it's not a total loss.

Michigan truly struggled in three particular categories: Education & Health (35), Safety (35) and Economy (42). Most Michiganders would agree that these are the state's rough spots, though as it is with any state, location is everything.

While Detroit is certainly on a comeback, it being the largest city in the state and having the greatest troubles with these three categories are what plummets Michigan's overall rating - though to be fair, the city also contributes heavily to the high Affordability ranking as well.

Oh, and for what it's worth, Michigan scored higher than Ohio in every category except Safety.