Louisiana has the most at-risk youth of any U.S. state, according to a ranking from personal finance website WalletHub.
WalletHub developed the list by comparing all 50 states and Washington, D.C., across 15 metrics focused on education and employment and on health. All metrics, including the share of disconnected youth, the youth poverty rate and the share of youth reporting depression, were graded on a 100-point scale. A weighted average score was then used to determine the rankings, with a higher score representing a higher level of youth risk.
No. 1 represents the most at-risk youth. Scores reflect a weighted average across all 15 metrics on a 100-point scale, with 100 representing the highest level of youth risk.
Below is the full ranking of states, from most to least at-risk youth, per WalletHub:
- Louisiana: 64.04
- Arkansas: 60.38
- Oklahoma: 60.18
- New Mexico: 59.72
- West Virginia: 59.6
- Oregon: 59.29
- Nevada: 56.12
- Mississippi: 55.07
- District of Columbia: 55.05
- Alabama: 54.23
- Alaska: 53.1
- Montana: 53.08
- Tennessee: 52.59
- Delaware: 50.22
- Texas: 48.19
- Arizona: 47.96
- Kentucky: 47.64
- Ohio: 46.26
- Missouri: 46.21
- Georgia: 45.95
- Indiana: 45.8
- Washington: 45.24
- Maine: 44.8
- South Carolina: 44.09
- Michigan: 43.76
- Idaho: 42.11
- South Dakota: 41.81
- Florida: 41.75
- Kansas: 41.49
- Wyoming: 41.07
- Pennsylvania: 40.81
- Vermont: 39.75
- Rhode Island: 38.87
- Virginia: 38.42
- Wisconsin: 38.22
- New York: 38.06
- California: 37.94
- North Carolina: 37.65
- Illinois: 36.96
- Colorado: 36.78
- Maryland: 36.35
- Minnesota: 33.97
- Nebraska: 33.78
- Iowa: 32.37
- North Dakota: 31.96
- Hawaii: 31.78
- Utah: 31.57
- New Hampshire: 31.41
- Connecticut: 29.27
- Massachusetts: 29.19
- New Jersey: 24
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