Iowa was ranked as the 13th most prosperous state | File Photo
Iowa was ranked as the 13th most prosperous state | File Photo
A London-based think tank report said that Iowa ranks in the Top 15 when it comes to the prosperity of states.
Legatum Institute recently published its 2021 United States Prosperity Index and ranked Iowa 13th of the 50 states and Washington, D.C.
"Increased productivity and competitiveness, a more educated adult population, reductions in smoking and drinking, and lower levels of property crime" were listed as factors that played into the ranking, according to The Center Square.
The categories contributing to the ranking were safety and security, personal freedom, governance, social capital, business environment, infrastructure, economic quality, living conditions, health, education and natural environment, according to the report. In these categories, Iowa ranked number 13, 16, 14, 13, 29, 20, 8, 16, 10, 14, and 39, respectively. While ranking the lowest, Iowa’s natural environment category was also the most improved, climbing 11 spots since 2011.
Iowa was also selected among 11 other states in the study for a county-by-county analysis, the report found.
Bremer County topped the county list while Wapello ranked last, though all, including Wapello, were in the top 40%. Wapello ranked lowest in part due to high levels of toxic water releases. Since 2011, Bremer experienced nearly a threefold increase in the rate of new entrepreneurs, from 115 to 336 new ventures per 100,000 of the population, contributing to its ranking as the top county in Iowa, the report found.
The study stated that Iowa’s high marks were thanks in part to the low unemployment rate and the high percentage of Iowans in the workforce. Iowa moved up one spot in the prosperity measure relative to 2020 and was ranked fourth in the Midwest behind Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin who were ranked third, ninth and tenth, respectively, according to The Center Square.
Iowa was also ranked one spot ahead of bordering state Nebraska, according to the report. Iowa has ranked in the top quarter of the survey for prosperity for more than ten years. The state was also ranked in the top ten for economic quality and health.
The goal of the study was to provide means for policymakers to deal with issues such as obesity, unemployment, mental health and declining social networks.
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