NH’s rankings reflect the good and the bad

The spotlight on the Granite State isn’t always convenient for its champions

There are any number of reports, surveys, and rankings that show how well — or how poorly — New Hampshire is doing on a range of issues.

Everything from education funding to safety to having a baby to business opportunities to student loan delinquency — it seems everything can be measured in one form or another, often as a yardstick against other states.

Anyone who might have a stake in a survey’s results are likely to make use of them for their own purposes — politicians, trade organizations, chambers of commerce, individual businesses, and nonprofits that advocate for a particular cause or issue.

Political parties in power, particularly, will laud the ones that put their policies in the best light, while their political opponents will highlight the ones that put those policies in the worst light.

The surveys and rankings are not meant to be political, rather analytical, informational. They are meant to be held up as a mirror to how well or poorly the state is doing on certain subjects, according to two purveyors of those surveys.

“It’s not surprising that people and organizations tend to highlight information that reflects positively on their accomplishments. That happens across the board — not just with politicians, but also with companies, nonprofits and other groups,” said Chip Lupo, an analyst with WalletHub, a steady purveyor of reports and national rankings that show the Granite State both favorably and not so favorably.

“At the same time, our goal in publishing these studies is to provide objective, data-driven insights that show both strengths and areas for improvement, so readers can look at the full picture rather than just one side of the story,” added Lupo, who was asked by NHBR to respond to how politicians use — or don’t use — its reports. “People who want balanced coverage can read the reports directly from WalletHub, rather than waiting for a politician to cherry-pick what makes them look best.”

One example is a report that contrasted state and local tax collections with the quality of the services residents receive in each of the 50 states. New Hampshire came out on top.

Then in July, WalletHub released a new report with New Hampshire again at the top, this time in a national ranking of the best and worst states for health care.

But then there are the other WalletHub rankings, those that show New Hampshire at the bottom of the pile. New Hampshire ranks 48th when it comes to access to quality pre-K education.

The state was ranked on where in the country child care is most and least affordable, a ranking of 39th that leaned on the least affordable side.

“We publish these reports because personal finance decisions are often shaped by information people don’t have easy access to,” Lupo said. “By analyzing data and highlighting trends, we aim to give consumers a clearer picture of their financial options, where opportunities exist, and what challenges they should be aware of. Ultimately, the goal is to help people make smarter, more informed financial decisions.”

Some of the more recent WalletHub findings show New Hampshire is the eighth hardest working state in the country based on data that ranges from the average number of hours worked per week to the share of workers with multiple jobs to the average leisure time spent per day.  Another showed New Hampshire with the sixth best community college system in the country.

WalletHub is by no means exclusive in this regard.

The New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute (NHFPI, https://nhfpi.org/) does frequent analyses of shortcomings related to state and federal budget policies and how they affect Granite Staters.

Some recent examples are:

• How education aid provided by the state varies from municipality to municipality;
• How ‘back of the book’ budget cuts curtail funding for health services;
• How higher gasoline prices strain household budgets;
• How high prices and limited supply impact housing affordability;
• How reducing the business enterprise tax has lowered revenue with limited economic impact.

The latest analysis — on the varied education aid the state provides — public school funding is heavily reliant on property taxpayers, while New Hampshire ranks last in the nation for the share of public education revenue provided through state funding.

That likely won’t make the cut for a laudatory comment from the governor’s office. For NHFPI, it doesn’t offer the studies to engage the political banter.

“The New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute promotes opportunity and economic well-being for all New Hampshire residents by producing and disseminating nonpartisan independent research and analysis to inform public policy. NHFPI does its best to stay out of the back-and-forth and focus on the facts,” said Gene Martin, NHFPI’s executive director.

“We believe that when people understand the facts and data, no matter what they are, they can make better policy decisions,” he added. “NHFPI is particularly focused on the financial security of Granite Staters with low and moderate incomes, which is why our reports focus on how people are doing and what fiscal policy means for their economic well-being.”

Their reports aren’t so much a ranking as they are an analysis of a policy, and how well or how poorly it might be serving New Hampshire taxpayers.

“Rankings can be informative, but the data behind those rankings and the methodologies used to create them are usually more valuable than the actual ranking itself,” said Martin. “Ranking states by one measure tells us about how a state compares by a single measure, but there’s a big difference between showing how states compare on a single measure rather than a composite one.”

One other recent ranking that caught the governor’s attention was a new US News & World Report finding that put New Hampshire as the sixth best state overall in the country. It ranked the Granite State as No. 1 for crime and corrections, No. 3 for natural environment, No. 6 for opportunity, No. 9 for healthcare, No. 12 for education, No. 18 for infrastructure, No. 32 for economy, and No. 36 for fiscal stability.