I decided to compare some of those rankings with Race and Ethnicity by State, and find out the Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The data is taken from these sources:
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings
https://statisticalatlas.com/United-States/Race-and-Ethnicity#figure/state
The correlation for “Quality of Life” was found to be moderately positive at R = 0.4458, i.e., states with lower non-White populations are associated with ‘lower’ rank numbers closer to the no. 1 spot. For the overall “Best States” ranking, and Crime & Corrections ranking, the correlation was still positive, but weaker.
Thus, the data indicates that “diversity” is not a good idea.
Each state is followed by the non-White population percentage, the overall “Best States” ranking, Crime & Corrections ranking and Quality of Life ranking.
Alabama 33.2% 46 43 35
Alaska 36.5% 44 50 19
Arizona 42.7% 39 38 39
Arkansas 25.8% 45 47 7
California 60.3% 32 28 50
Colorado 30.3% 10 29 10
Connecticut 29.5% 24 8 38
Delaware 35.2% 18 46 24
Florida 42.8% 15 31 33
Georgia 44.6% 31 35 32
Hawaii 77.2% 17 17 36
Idaho 16.3% 12 6 20
Illinois 36.7% 35 24 47
Indiana 18.9% 33 30 48
Iowa 11.8% 1 15 9
Kansas 22.2% 29 37 16
Kentucky 13.9% 41 9 27
Louisiana 40.0% 50 48 42
Maine 5.7% 22 1 12
Maryland 45.9% 13 26 31
Massachusetts 24.3% 8 5 25
Michigan 23.7% 37 32 29
Minnesota 17.4% 2 11 2
Mississippi 42.2% 49 16 6
Missouri 19.3% 30 45 15
Montana 12.6% 27 36 13
Nebraska 18.3% 7 19 14
Nevada 46.6% 34 44 43
New Hampshire 8.1% 5 2 4
New Jersey 41.5% 19 3 49
New Mexico 60.0% 48 49 8
New York 42.2% 25 10 37
North Carolina 35.1% 23 21 34
North Dakota 11.7% 4 23 1
Ohio 19.2% 40 18 40
Oklahoma 31.8% 43 34 17
Oregon 22.0% 16 20 18
Pennsylvania 21.0% 38 25 44
Rhode Island 24.3% 28 13 23
South Carolina 36.0% 42 42 30
South Dakota 15.9% 14 40 5
Tennessee 24.7% 26 41 28
Texas 55.2% 36 27 46
Utah 19.9% 3 14 22
Vermont 5.9% 9 7 26
Virginia 35.7% 20 4 41
Washington 28.1% 6 39 21
West Virginia 7.1% 47 33 45
Wisconsin 17.0% 11 22 3
Wyoming 14.8% 21 12 11
Now here’s the data in comma-delineated format, so it can be easily copied and pasted into a page that calculates the Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The first set is the non-White population (expressed as a proportion), the next is the Best States ranking.
0.332,0.365,0.427,0.258,0.603,0.303,0.295,0.352,0.428,0.446,0.772,0.163,0.367,0.189,0.118,0.222,0.139,0.4,0.057,0.459,0.243,0.237,0.174,0.422,0.193,0.126,0.183,0.466,0.081,0.415,0.6,0.422,0.351,0.117,0.192,0.318,0.22,0.21,0.243,0.36,0.159,0.247,0.552,0.199,0.059,0.357,0.281,0.071,0.17,0.148
46,44,39,45,32,10,24,18,15,31,17,12,35,33,1,29,41,50,22,13,8,37,2,49,30,27,7,34,5,19,48,25,23,4,40,43,16,38,28,42,14,26,36,3,9,20,6,47,11,21
Input each set of data at the following page, one into the X values box and one into Y values.
http://www.socscistatistics.com/tests/pearson/Default2.aspx
The value of R is 0.3163.
Now find the 95% confidence interval by inputting R and the sample size n (50) at this page:
http://www.psyctc.org/stats/R/CI_correln1.html
95% CI is from 0.04125 to 0.5463.
So there almost certainly is a positive correlation; it could range from very weak to moderate, but is most likely classed as weak.
The Crime & Corrections data gives a similar, slightly lower correlation.
43,50,38,47,28,29,8,46,31,35,17,6,24,30,15,37,9,48,1,26,5,32,11,16,45,36,19,44,2,3,49,10,21,23,18,34,20,25,13,42,40,41,27,14,7,4,39,33,22,12
The value of R is: 0.2869.
95% CI is from 0.00896 to 0.52321.
Quality of Life gives a larger correlation, which is most likely to be moderate.
35,19,39,7,50,10,38,24,33,32,36,20,47,48,9,16,27,42,12,31,25,29,2,6,15,13,14,43,4,49,8,37,34,1,40,17,18,44,23,30,5,28,46,22,26,41,21,45,3,11
The value of R is: 0.4458.
95% CI is from 0.19066 to 0.64389
In other words, from “very weak” to “strong”.
