With the upcoming Fourth of July holiday, more commonly known as Independence Day, personal finance company WalletHub released the aptly-timed study regarding the most and least independent states of 2024.
WalletHub Financial Writer Adam McCann stated that Americans Value Independence and the strong ability to rely upon themselves as individuals. With inflation affecting the country, many struggle to maintain their financial independence and some have become temporarily more dependent on support from the federal government.
“In order to find out where Americans are the most self-reliant, WalletHub compared the 50 states based on five sources of dependency: consumer finances, the government, the job market, international trade and personal vices,” explained McCann.
Per the 39 key indicators of independence that these categories were broken down into, it was revealed that Utah came in first place as the most independent state for 2024. Colorado followed in second place, with Florida, Wisconsin and Vermont rounding out the top five. On the other end of the spectrum, Louisiana ranked the least dependent, coming in just under Kentucky.
The beehive state earned second place in the highest percentage of households that have rainy-day or emergency funds, as well as second place in regard to median household income. Utah is the fourth-most federally dependent state, the state with the lowest percentage of households that receive public assistance such as SNAP/food stamps, and the fourth state in regard to percentage of adult drug users.
Utah had the lowest percentage of adult binge drinkers, with a two-time difference against the state with the highest percentage, which was Montana.
“In addition, Utah residents don’t rely on unemployment income, as the state has a 3% unemployment rate, one of the lowest in the country,” WalletHub shared. “It also has the second-highest median income in the country (nearly $84,000) and the second-lowest share of people in poverty.”