MA Economy Is Nation's Sixth-Strongest: Report

Massachusetts has the six-healthiest economy in the country, according to a new study published Wednesday by Ohio University, whose researchers ranked the performance of each state’s economy over the last decade. The Bay State received a distress score of 79.2 for 2019, much lower than the national average of 100 (the lower the score, the better).

In 2009, in the depths of the Great Recession, Massachusetts' distress score was 84.2.

The researchers used information compiled by the Appalachian Regional Commission, which calculates economic distress by averaging unemployment rate, per capita market income and poverty rate over three years, then comparing it to national averages.

“These measures can help elected officials and policy makers identify communities that may be susceptible to elevated levels of mental illness, substance abuse and other serious diseases of despair,” researcher Orman Hall said in a release.
Here are the top 10 healthiest economies in America this year:

1. New Hampshire, 68.8
2. North Dakota, 70.9
3. Hawaii, 78.1
4. Nebraska, 78.7
5. Minnesota, 79
6. Massachusetts, 79.2
7. Maryland, 80.1
8. Connecticut, 81
9. Vermont/Wyoming/Colorado, 81.8

The South, on the other hand, dominated the list of 10 unhealthiest economies this year. That includes Mississippi, which ranked as the unhealthiest economy in America, with a distress score of 141 (which is actually an improvement from 2009 when it received scored 153). New Mexico, West Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, Kentucky, Arizona, South Carolina, Arkansas and Georgia made up the bottom 10. Each had a distress score of at least 115.

“The Southeast is struggling still relative to the rest of the country,” Rick Hodges, executive in residence at the university, told Patch on Wednesday.

He later added: “I think you can look at it as saying if 100 is the average, there is a huge disparity between some of those that have benefitted and some of those who have not as much.”

North Dakota saw its score improve the most. In 2009, the state had the 17th-healthiest economy with a score of 91. That improved 22 percent in the last decade, to 70.9. Now, the state has the second-healthiest economy in the nation. Louisiana managed to improve its economy as well, from a paltry 147.6 to still-bad-but-not-as-bad 122.9. The state’s ranking improved three spots from 49 to 46.

The six-month study was initially meant to be used with mapping economic disparity to health issues such as disease and poverty. But after looking at the numbers, the researchers thought the results were particularly interesting as an economic study. They showed the relative disparity amongst states and how states have improved, Hodges said.

While the country has grown overall, some areas have basically stagnated.

“Economic growth since the recession has occurred, but it has certainly not been equal,” he said.
That includes Ohio, which ranked 32nd in economic distress in 2009 with a score of 103.8, then ranked 33rd this year with a score of 104 — essentially unchanged.

“Obviously we’re based in Ohio and we were hoping it would be better than that. As you look within states, and we’re in the process of breaking other areas down now, just the relative disparity across a state or across a region is really surprising,” he said.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

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