2016 Best - and Worst - States for Summer Road Trips

Editor’s Note: Patch is re-running this popular story in case you missed it the first time around.

Ah, the summer road trip. Windows down, music blasting, friends or family laughing and smiling all the way... it doesn't get any better.

Unless, apparently, if you're heading to Connecticut.

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The good folks at the personal finance website WalletHub have ranked the best and worst states for road tripping, and Connecticut came in dead last.

How can that be? Well, WalletHub compared the 50 states using three equally weighted criteria: 1) Driving & Lodging Costs, 2) Road Conditions & Safety and 3) Fun & Scenic Attractions.

Within those categories a total of 21 metrics were studied, including Average Gas Prices, Lowest Cost of Three-Star Hotels, Population Density, Quality of Bridges, Number of Car Thefts per 1,000 Residents, Number of Scenic Byways, and Number of Attractions (nightlife options excluded).

The main factor in why states ranked well or poorly seems to be how much value you'd get out of a road trip to a particular state.

"Although gas is relatively cheap these days, filling up your tank along a long road trip will still cost a pretty penny, particularly given the 40 percent rebound in prices at the pump over the last four months," wrote author Richie Bernardo. "Plus, there are accommodations, activities and dining to consider. All of that certainly contributes to the $600-plus billion that we spend on leisure travel each year. And when you consider the billions of dollars in annual credit card debt that we’ve been racking up of late, ways to save are definitely in order."

After crunching the data, WalletHub gave Connecticut a 35.89 out of 100, dragged down by poor scores in the "Driving & Lodging Costs" and "Fun & Scenic Attractions" categories.

Which states ranked the best? Number one was Oregon, with a score of 60.50 out of 100. Next was Nevada (59.35), Utah (59.22), North Carolina (56.08) and Minnesota (56.06).

And the bottom five states, according to WalletHub, are Michigan, North Dakota, Mississippi, Alaska and Connecticut.

So, get out and take a road trip this summer. Just think twice before doing it in Connecticut.

Click here to view the entire ranking from WalletHub

Image via Pixabay