The U.S. may have the largest economy in the world, but in other key measures indicative of quality of life, it is far from number one. Based on the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index, a tool used for gauging and comparing quality of life across geographies, the United States ranks as the 17th best country to live in worldwide.
While quality of life across the U.S. as a whole trails over a dozen other nations, there are parts of the country that, if analyzed through the lens of the HDI, would rank at or near the top of the list of the best places to live globally.
Inspired by the HDI, 24/7 Wall St. created an index consisting of three measures â life expectancy at birth, bachelor’s degree attainment, and poverty rate â to identify the best counties to live in in every state.
Forsyth County, located in north-central Georgia, ranks as the best county to live in in the state. Located within the Atlanta metropolitan area, local residents have access to employment opportunities in one of the largest cities in the United States, and partially as a result, the local unemployment rate of 2.5% is well below the 4.1% statewide rate. Job availability also means residents are less likely to struggle financially than most Georgia residents. The county’s poverty rate of 5.7% is nearly one-third the 15.1% poverty rate across Georgia.
Conditions associated with poverty can contribute to negative health outcomes, while health outcomes tend to improve with education. These factors may help explain why Forsyth County’s population appears to be far healthier than average. Life expectancy at birth in the county is 82.3 years, over four years longer than the average across the state.
Data on bachelor’s degree attainment and poverty are from the 2019 U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and are five-year estimates. Data on average life expectancy at birth came from the 2021 County Health Rankings, a joint program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, and are based on mortality data from the years 2017 to 2019. Supplemental data on population and income are from the ACS, and unemployment rates are seasonally adjusted for May 2021 and are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Only independent cities, counties, and county equivalents with populations of 10,000 or more were considered.
| Place | Poverty rate (%) | Adults with a bachelor’s degree (%) | Life expectancy at birth (years) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama: Shelby County | 7.5 | 42.9 | 80.7 |
| Alaska: Juneau City and Borough | 7.7 | 38.4 | 81.1 |
| Arizona: Maricopa County | 13.8 | 32.7 | 80.5 |
| Arkansas: Benton County | 9.4 | 33.4 | 79.9 |
| California: Marin County | 7.2 | 59.5 | 85.4 |
| Colorado: Pitkin County | 6.7 | 60.8 | 94.4 |
| Connecticut: Fairfield County | 8.9 | 47.9 | 83.0 |
| Delaware: New Castle County | 11.4 | 36.2 | 78.4 |
| Florida: St. Johns County | 8.2 | 44.7 | 81.9 |
| Georgia: Forsyth County | 5.7 | 53.1 | 82.3 |
| Hawaii: Honolulu County | 8.3 | 35.0 | 82.5 |
| Idaho: Teton County | 4.5 | 41.0 | 83.8 |
| Illinois: DuPage County | 6.4 | 49.4 | 82.5 |
| Indiana: Hamilton County | 4.6 | 59.3 | 82.0 |
| Iowa: Dallas County | 5.2 | 50.4 | 82.3 |
| Kansas: Johnson County | 5.4 | 56.0 | 81.7 |
| Kentucky: Oldham County | 5.9 | 42.4 | 79.8 |
| Louisiana: St. Tammany Parish | 11.5 | 33.8 | 78.3 |
| Maine: Cumberland County | 9.0 | 47.6 | 80.2 |
| Maryland: Howard County | 5.0 | 62.6 | 83.2 |
| Massachusetts: Middlesex County | 7.4 | 56.3 | 82.4 |
| Michigan: Leelanau County | 6.1 | 44.7 | 82.7 |
| Minnesota: Carver County | 4.1 | 48.9 | 83.3 |
| Mississippi: Madison County | 9.6 | 48.4 | 76.5 |
| Missouri: Platte County | 6.2 | 43.1 | 80.2 |
| Montana: Gallatin County | 11.3 | 50.1 | 82.6 |
| Nebraska: Sarpy County | 5.9 | 39.8 | 81.3 |
| Nevada: Douglas County | 8.7 | 29.4 | 80.7 |
| New Hampshire: Rockingham County | 4.6 | 41.4 | 80.9 |
| New Jersey: Hunterdon County | 4.5 | 52.7 | 83.5 |
| New Mexico: Los Alamos County | 4.4 | 67.4 | 83.8 |
| New York: New York County | 15.8 | 61.3 | 85.3 |
| North Carolina: Orange County | 13.7 | 59.7 | 82.3 |
| North Dakota: Burleigh County | 8.1 | 35.8 | 81.6 |
| Ohio: Delaware County | 4.8 | 54.3 | 82.3 |
| Oklahoma: Cleveland County | 12.0 | 33.4 | 78.7 |
| Oregon: Washington County | 8.9 | 44.4 | 82.7 |
| Pennsylvania: Chester County | 6.4 | 53.0 | 81.4 |
| Rhode Island: Bristol County | 7.5 | 49.0 | 81.5 |
| South Carolina: Beaufort County | 10.2 | 41.2 | 82.9 |
| South Dakota: Lincoln County | 4.1 | 37.6 | 84.3 |
| Tennessee: Williamson County | 4.4 | 59.8 | 81.7 |
| Texas: Collin County | 6.3 | 52.3 | 82.7 |
| Utah: Summit County | 5.6 | 55.0 | 85.1 |
| Vermont: Chittenden County | 12.1 | 51.3 | 81.8 |
| Virginia: Arlington County | 6.8 | 75.3 | 85.9 |
| Washington: San Juan County | 10.2 | 49.8 | 86.2 |
| West Virginia: Jefferson County | 9.7 | 31.8 | 78.0 |
| Wisconsin: Ozaukee County | 5.3 | 49.0 | 82.1 |
| Wyoming: Teton County | 6.1 | 57.0 | 87.5 |
Samuel Stebbins, 24/7 Wall St. via The Center Square
