Study: New Jersey ranked 4th best state to live in

There are a lot of factors that go into finding a state to call home, from the local economy to affordability, education, quality of life, safety and more.

Taking those factors into account, a new study by WalletHub.com places New Jersey as one of the Top 5 best states to live in, handily beating out New York and Connecticut. 

The Garden State ranked fourth overall in the survey, ranking 15th in education and health, 7th in quality of life and first in safety. 

New York came in at 14th overall, topping the list for quality of life and finishing second in safety, but coming dead last in affordability. According to the study, New York also has some of the nation’s highest housing costs, behind only Hawaii and California, along with the lowest homeownership rate in the nation. 

Connecticut finished 20th in the rankings, finishing 46th in affordability and 42nd in economy, but 5th in education and health, 18th in quality of life and 9th in safety. 

Sitting atop the list as the best state in the US to live in was Massachusetts, which scored highly in every category except affordability.