Las Vegas, NV (KXNT) - Nevadans pride themselves on their fierce independence, but a new survey from the financial website WalletHub throws cold water on that.
The past year and a half has been an especially big test of our independence, as Americans have been forced to stay much more isolated from others than usual during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thankfully, the distribution of the vaccine has allowed restrictions to become largely relaxed in recent months.
The pandemic hasn’t just kept people physically apart, though. It’s also caused financial hardship, which has led many people to become at least temporarily more dependent on support from the federal government. Other people have become more dependent on personal vices, such as drinking and drugs, due to isolation and stress.
In order to find out where Americans are the most self-reliant despite coronavirus, WalletHub compared the 50 states based on five sources of dependency: consumer finances, the government, the job market, international trade and personal vices breaking down these categories into 39 key indicators of independence in order to determine which states are most self-sustaining.
The Silver State came in a less than impressive 37th place, hurt by low marks in the “financial dependency” (40th) and “job market dependency” (45th) categories
Out neighbor to the north, Utah, was found to be the most independent state, followed by Colorado, Nebraska, Virginia and Kansas.
The least independent, in descending order: Alaska, South Carolina, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Louisiana.
For a look at the full study, click here.