Louisiana's not so bad except in education and prison rates and poverty. We got a booklet on state comparisons from the Taxpayers Network and highlighted those of importance:
No. 1 in incarceration rate. Ugh.
No. 6 in poverty rate at 29.6 percent. Only 15 percent in N.H.
No. 4 in senior citizen poverty rate at 24.2 percent. Only 13.1 in Utah.
No. 29 in annual per capita income at $37,021.
No. 49 in cigarette excise tax rates at 36 cents. $4.35 in New York.
No. 44 in spirits excise tax at $2.50 per gallon. Zero in N.H. and $26.70 in Washington.
No. 39 in gas tax at 20 cents. It's 49 cents in N.Y. and 8 cents in Alaska.
No. 45 in monthly wireless tax at 11.33 percent.
No. 38 in patents issued with 369. California has 30,750.
No. 30 in public teacher salaries at $49,634. $72k in N.Y.
No. 5 in residents without a high school degree at 18.1 percent.
No. 49 in those with post high school education at 47.6 percent. It's 66.9 percent in Colorado.
No. 41 on ACT scores.
No. 6 on spending per capita on Natural Resources and Parks and Recreation.
No. 18 on highway spending per capita.
No. 23 on annual miles driven per capita at 9,806. It's more than 16,000 in Wyoming.
No. 21 in highway fatalities.
No. 49 in liability and litigation systems.
No. 8 in spending by state government on police per capita.
No. 17 in state correctional spending per capita.
No. 6 on violent crime rate.
No. 23 on property crime rate.
No. 21 on total arrests rate.
No. 28 on public welfare expenses per capita at $1,420.