American workers are in the driver’s seat in ways they haven’t been in years. That’s because there are not nearly enough of them to fill more than 11 million job openings. So, workers increasingly can name their own terms. The calculation comes down to much more than money.
That is why CNBC’s annual America’s Top States for Business study has always measured quality of life, and why it is especially important in this year’s methodology.
The study’s Life, Health and Inclusion category considers factors such as crime rates, environmental quality, and health care. For the first time in 2022, researchers also considered the availability of childcare, which the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found remains a major obstacle to parents seeking to reenter the workforce as the pandemic wanes.
For the past several years, the study has also taken into account inclusiveness of state laws in areas like protections against discrimination and voting rights. That’s not politics, it’s business.
CNBC found that some states don’t make the grade. But these 10 states lead the way in Life, Health and Inclusion.
10. Iowa
9. Oregon
8. New Jersey
7. Nebraska
6. Washington
5. Minnesota
4. North Dakota
3. Hawaii
2. Maine
1. Vermont
Read the full report at https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/14/these-10-states-are-americas-best-places-to-live-in-2022.html.
