These Are The Best States To Be Unemployed In America

There are a few states that are not very nice to their unemployed.

Reasons including high unemployment rates, wealth disparities, and low unemployment benefits are among the factors cited for warranting these states their dismal distinction.

But what are the eight best states for the unemployed? Using the same three criteria  — income replacement, or average unemployment benefits (as of 4Q 2012) as a percentage of average state income per capita; unemployment rate (as of March 2013); and wealth disparity, the ratio of households with incomes of at least $200,000 to those with incomes of less than $10,000 (as of 2011 Census ACS) — each state’s rank was averaged.

See if you recognize any geographic pattern among these eight best states.

8. Iowa

And that’s not America’s Heartland’s only redeeming quality.

The state’s $328 average in weekly unemployment benefits far surpasses those of the two states that flank it on the list — Montana at $275 and Oklahoma at $281. Iowa’s unemployment benefits as a percentage of income also subsequently post a high number of 40.5 percent.

7. Oklahoma

Oklahoma and Iowa actually tie in ranking, both #44 on “Worst Places To Be Unemployed,” thus making them both the #7 best states to be unemployed. While Iowa bears an ever so slightly better unemployment rate than Oklahoma, the latter redeems itself with a better rank on income replacement. Unfortunately, the state also has the 7th most miserable residents, which is probably not a status it likes to broadcast.

6. Kentucky

The state suffers an employment rate significantly higher than the states that envelope it, but it maintains its top-6 distinction with its impressive rank on income replacement, sitting at #47. To put it in perspective, remember that the place who holds #1 in this criteria, the District of Columbia, is also the worst place to be unemployed on our list. Benefits as a percentage of income for Kentucky are also high at 43.8 percent, but the state still holds the 7th greatest concentration of senior poverty.

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