Smartest states

General Discussion
#1

This was interesting…
When I was trying to decide where to move to in the US, one of the factors I looked at was “educational attainment” of the states, that is, what portion of the residents of the state have completed what levels of education. I used data from the 2000 federal census.

At the time, Vermont came in first (for my purposes), and New Hampshire came in second.

In the following link, IQ scores, educational attainment, exam scores, etc are used to determine the “smartest” (not necessarily the highest IQ). New Hampshire is second, Vermont third.

These Are The Smartest States In The US | Watch

#2

Don’t know if there’s a relationship, but it’s tempting…
Finding Your Bliss: America’s 11 Best States for Quality of Life in 2025

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont top the list, in the same order as the “Smartest” states listed above.

Add to this the potential for New England (including the three states listed above) being considered by some as a viable independent country, and there seems to be a trend.
U.S. States That Would Succeed As Independent Countries | Watch

#3

Despite the above posts, in WalletHub’s rating of the best states in which to live,
Massachusetts is #1, NH #7, and Vermont #21.

Best States to Live In (2025)

This might be the reason… cost of living. While Massachusetts, NH and Vermont have high literacy and educational rates, we’re obviously not using those smarts to make NH a desirable place to live. In order to bring NH into the top 3 (again) perhaps we should try to reduce the cost of living. Our cost of living has been addressed as a problem for a long time.
Massachusetts comes in #2 for cost of living, Vermont #8, and New Hampshire #9.

If I might venture a guess…
Higher educational levels make it possible to get higher-paying jobs
Higher paying jobs mean that supply can easily meet higher-cost demand (but not low-cost demand)
Meeting demand makes things more expensive
Higher expenses mean higher cost-of-living, but also increase “bliss” because the demand is being met, at least for those with higher income.

#4

I’m seeing another list where New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts are grouped together.
The have the lowest teen pregnancy rates, and also the lowest teen birth rates.
Figures are for 2022.

Teen Pregnancy Rates by State 2025

#5

Good educational levels seem to be a factor in the development of Dark Personality Traits…

"The researchers found that average levels of dark personality traits varied systematically across U.S. states, with certain regions consistently scoring higher on the Dark Factor of Personality than others. States such as Nevada, New York, Texas, Louisiana, California, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee were among those with the highest average D scores. These states also tended to have higher levels of aversive societal conditions.

In contrast, states such as Vermont, Utah, New Hampshire, Oregon, Maine, Alaska, Minnesota, Idaho, Montana, and Colorado had the lowest average D scores in the sample. These states generally exhibited more favorable socioecological conditions during the early 2000s, with lower levels of violence, corruption, and poverty."