A new study compared all 50 states for their friendliness to family well-being and ranked Michigan in fourth place.
Therapist marketplace Zencare recently published the study Happy Families: The best states for your family’s mental health, comparing eight factors, from cost of living to the divorce rate, to determine the best places for family mental health, and Michigan came in fourth behind New Jersey, Illinois and Pennsylvania.
“Home is more than just the place you live. The state you call home can have a significant impact on your family’s mental health,” Zencare said.
“Across the U.S., mental health care varies widely. Our findings from this research have revealed that although states are taking the steps to constantly improve the quality of life and mental well-being of their population, it is also clear that there are still factors that need to be considered to help boost the overall quality of living for families in the U.S. … Regardless of which states are the best or worst to live in, every person and family deserves additional support when considering serious issues such as mental health awareness, demand for inclusivity, and available resources ranging from health to work opportunities.”
Methodology
To determine the ranking, researchers examined eight factors they deemed are linked to raising a healthy family — mental health care, cost of living, opportunity, divorce rate, high school graduation rate, hospital availability, state and national parks coverage, and diversity.
Sources included Mental Health America, World Population Review, U.S. News & World Report and the American Hospital Directory, among others.
Zencare used the metrics for each of the factors in each state to calculate the overall sum of the rankings. The states with a lower numerical total ranked higher on the list.
Michigan ranked 18th for mental health care, seventh for cost of living, fifth for opportunity, 32nd for divorce rate, 19th for high school graduation, 11th for hospital availability, 11th for state and national parks, and 36th for overall diversity, with a total score of 139 — low enough to snag the fourth-place spot.
A chart with a breakdown of the rankings is available to view here.
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