Americans flock to the states CNBC doesn't like

The TV channel CNBC describes itself as "the recognized world leader in business news." But after reading its recent report on the worst states in which to live and work, I find myself wondering about its grasp on basic market realities.

In a story this month, CNBC purported to calculate "how welcoming each state is to workers and their families." Its ranking, it said, was based on "multiple quality of life factors, including crime rates, environmental quality, and health care." Also included were "the quality and availability of childcare" and "inclusiveness." On that basis, this is CNBC's list of the 10 worst states in America:

• Texas

• Oklahoma

• Louisiana

• South Carolina

• Alabama

• Missouri

• Indiana

• Tennessee

• Arkansas

• Florida

Notice anything curious about that "Worst Ten" list? According to CNBC, among the states with the poorest record of "welcoming . . . workers and their families" are the places that Americans are most likely to move to. Texas and Florida have for years been the top two destinations for Americans relocating to new homes.

In 2022, net in-migration to Texas totaled 231,000 people. For Florida, the number was 319,000. No other states experienced such tremendous numbers of new residents coming from other states, but Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee are also high on the roster of states to which Americans are most likely to move to.

So at least half of CNBC's "worst" states to live in are actually top destinations for Americans pulling up stakes. To be sure, popularity is not always a proxy for quality. But is it really plausible that people are disproportionately choosing to relocate to states that are not, in CNBC's term, "welcoming"? If those states were really so unappetizing, wouldn't more people be leaving them?

Is it just a coincidence that when CNBC measures states with its "life, health, and inclusion" yardstick, the ones it deems worst all tend to vote Republican? Or that the best states, in the network's view, are all solidly blue? According to CNBC, the nation's Top 10 states in which to live and work are:

• Vermont

• Maine

• New Jersey

• Minnesota

• Hawaii

• Oregon

• Washington

• Massachusetts

• Colorado

• Connecticut

Once again, CNBC's idea of desirability doesn't square with the decisions made by ordinary Americans. According to the Census Bureau, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New Jersey are among the top states with the highest net level of out-migration — all three are losing population in significant numbers to other states.

In its article on the "10 worst" states, CNBC acknowledges that the aspects of life it considers intolerable don't seem to be "stopping huge numbers of people from moving to Florida" or keeping Texas from "attracting people from far and wide." Rather than analyze why so many Americans are drawn to states that it regards as benighted, however, CNBC simply dismisses those states as "dreary" (Florida), "unhealthy" (South Carolina), "not OK" (Oklahoma), and "dismal" (Texas).

If the TV channel wishes merely to preach to the progressive choir, it is of course perfectly free to do so. But if it really wishes to be regarded as a "world leader in business news," maybe it should spend less time sneering at the red states that are attracting more Americans than they are losing, and instead try harder to understand why so many people find them so attractive.

Jeff Jacoby is a columnist for The Boston Globe, from which this is reprinted with permission."