With 17 state capitals being the most populated cities in their states, the personal-finance website WalletHub recently released its report on “2023’s Best State Capitals for Safety & More.” To identify the most livable seats of state government, WalletHub compared all 50 state capitals across 49 key metrics ranging from the cost of living to K–12 school-system quality to the share of residents who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
The top 20 state capitals were Austin, Texas; Raleigh, N.C.; Madison, Wisc.; Boise, Idaho; Lincoln, Neb.; Salt Lake City; Concord, N.H.; Denver; Atlanta; Columbus, Ohio, Nashville, Tenn.; Oklahoma City; Des Moines, Iowa; Helena, Mont.; St. Paul, Minn.; Olympia, Wash.; Bismarck, N.D.; Annapolis, Md.; Cheyenne, Wyo., and Sane Fe, N.M.
Best versus worst takeaways from the survey were:
- Concord, N.H., has the lowest violent-crime rate per 1,000 residents, 1.92, which is 9.6 times lower than in Little Rock, Ark., the city with the highest at 18.50.
- Raleigh, N.C., has the highest median household income (adjusted for cost of living), $75,048, which is 2.3 times higher than in Hartford, Conn., the city with the lowest at $33,078.
- Montpelier, Vt., has the highest share of adults age 25 and older with at least a bachelor’s degree, 61.20 percent, which is 4.3 times higher than in Trenton, N.J., the city with the lowest at 14.20 percent.