Boston ranks really low on list of best state capitals
Providence and Hartford fared even worse.
In Boston, we know we’rethebest, but a recently released study on state capitals doesn’t exactly support that take.
Boston ranked in the bottom 10—at number 41—for the worst state capitals out of all 50 states’ in a WalletHub study that looked at affordability, economic well-being, education and health, and quality of life. Boston wasn’t the only New England capital that ranked that low, either; Providence, Rhode Island came in at number 46, and Hartford, Connecticut ranked dead last at number 50.
WalletHub’s four key factors were broken down into 35 metrics, ranging from housing cost and crime rate to weather and average commute time. (OK, maybe it makes sense that Boston didn’t do too well.)
Still, when broken down by factor, Boston’s rankings were all over the board. For affordability, Boston came in at number 48 (earlier this year, a study showed that though the rate at which Boston rents are increasing finally slowed down, the city was still the number four place for highest rents in the nation). For the education and health factor, Boston placed at number seven—after all, our state’s schools are some of the best in the nation, and a lot of them are located in the capital.
For both the economic well-being and quality of life factors, Boston ranked at number 16. And Boston ranked high on two of WalletHub’s sublists: The city got the number two spot for state capitals with the most attractions and the number three spot for having the highest number of millennial newcomers.
One thing definitely missing from this study: sports. How better to represent a state as its capital than with multiple championships? If that were factored in, Boston definitely would have been higher on the list.
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