According to just released DIVER Geo Scores from Lumesis, Washington, DC continues to be the top state-level location in the US for the month of March. DC held the same distinction a year ago. The District has a Geo Score of 10, the highest score, which is based on multiple, meaningful economic and demographic datapoints from the employment, income and housing categories. DIVER Geo Scores are relative scores designed to quickly communicate the overall economic health of a selected geographic area on a scale of 0 to 10. Rounding out the top 5 for the month are North Dakota (9.8), New Hampshire (9.6), Colorado (9.4) and Massachusetts (9.2)
The Geo Scores also looks at cities and counties. While the State of California ranks 16th with an overall score of 7, the top three performing counties last month are in California: San Mateo, Santa Clara and San Francisco, all with rankings of 10. Some of the State's cities are very strong performers as well.
In fact, many Northern California cities continue to thrive with nine of the top ten performers coming from the state including:The only top ten city outside of California last month was Midland, Texas with a 9.9. Overall, Texas is ranked 25 out of 51 and has a few cities and counties with the lowest Geo Scores including Willacy County and the cities of Harlington and Brownsville, all of which have scores of below one.
Returning to States, beyond DC and California, North Dakota (9.8) had the second highest score, up from it's ranking of 3rd a year ago. Massachusetts moved up three spots from eighth to fifth from last year driven by improvements in employment and wages. The State also saw an improvement in its housing situation from a year ago.
So which States have the lowest Geo Scores this month? Mississippi (0), New Mexico (.2), West Virginia (.4), Louisiana (.6) and Alabama (.8) are the bottom five, all with Geo Scores below 1. This is similar to scores for these States at this time last year indicating little positive movements in the key economic data. Another State to watch is Florida which is showing significant downward trends. While the State is ranked 30 with a Geo Score of 4.2, many cities are showing weakening performance vs. last year including Lakeland, Daytona Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Tampa.
For a full list of all states and their respective scores, visit our website.