If you live in Ohio or Kentucky, you may have noticed that money stuff isn't so great right now.
That's the finding in a new study from personal finance website WalletHub. According to WalletHub's June 6 list of 2022's Best and Worst State Economies, the Buckeye State and the Commonwealth both are near the bottom when it comes to economic health.
Ohio comes in at No. 39 out of the nation's 50 states plus Washington, D.C., with a 38.09 overall score out of 100. For its scoring, WalletHub reviewed data on each state's economic activity, economic health and innovation potential. It then weighed 28 metrics, such as a change in GDP (gross domestic product), state public debt, unemployment rate, personal income for state residents, high-tech industries and entrepreneurial activity.
The Buckeye State is ranked a mediocre No. 30 for economic activity and No. 32 for innovation potential, but the state tanks in economic health at No. 46. WalletHub also says that Ohio is one of the nation's bottom-five states when it comes to startup activity (No. 48) and has the lowest change in non-farm payrolls (No. 51) – five times lower than the positive change found in Nevada.
Kentucky fares even worse than Ohio, ranking at No. 42 overall with a score of 36.03. The Commonwealth is a somewhat-respectable No. 28 for economic activity, but it lands at No. 37 for economic health and No. 46 for innovation potential.
In contrast, Indiana's economy ranks at No. 22 within the United States. The top three states are, in order, Washington, Utah and California.
WalletHub's data comes from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies and topical organizations.
See WalletHub's full list of the 2022 Best and Worst State Economies.
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