New Jersey may not be the best state for millennials

Millennials have trillion-dollar spending purchase power and for the most part, high educational achievements. But they are economically worse off than their parents, according to a report from the personal finance website, WalletHub.

To determine which are the best and worst states for millennials in 2022, analyst Jill Gonzalez said the site compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia across 34 key metrics, ranging from the share of millennials to unemployment rates for them to millennial voter turnout.

It was not just economics and affordability, but also education, health, quality of life, and civic engagement categories that were analyzed.

New Jersey is not the greatest state for millennials. It ranked only 29th best for this age group, according to the report.

It does particularly poorly when it comes to affordability, especially home ownerships, Gonzalez said.

The state could also use help in terms of overall economic health. The unemployment rate for millennials could be better in New Jersey.

She said the Garden State ranked lowest when it comes to civic engagement. Millennials are not really showing up to the polls. They don’t volunteer as much as they should and there’s no millennial caucus in New Jersey, which doesn’t help things either.
The cost of living remains high in the state, too.

“When we’re looking at housing costs for millennials specifically, that is something that is not getting any better and that explains why the millennial homeownership rate in New Jersey is so low,” Gonzalez said.

New Jersey did rank well, however, in the education and health categories.
There is a very high share of millennials with at least a high school diploma in New Jersey. Gonzalez said there are, for the most part, healthy and insured millennials there. When it comes to quality of life, quite a few millennials are living in the state.

But many of them are still living at home with their parents, which is not an ideal situation, she added.

Washington state is the best state for millennials. The District of Columbia comes in second place followed by Massachusetts, Utah, and Illinois. On the flip side, Mississippi is the worst state for millennials followed by West Virginia, New Mexico, Arkansas, and Louisiana.