The 88th General Assembly
has convened the 2012 fiscal session

Friday, June 15, 2007

Where Arkansas ranks in various categories

Received these from the Taxpayers Network. Here's where we rank among other states (and DC) in various categories:

Demographics:
32nd -- Population (2,810,872)
22nd -- Growth in population since 2000 (2.34%)
2nd -- Least expensive owner occupied housing costs ($842/mo.)
8th -- Least expensive rental housing costs ($549/mo.)
49th -- Median housing value ($87,400)
49th -- Median family income ($43,134)
48th -- Personal income per capita ($26,641)
7th -- Percent of population below poverty level (17.2%)

Taxes/Revenue:
28th -- State and local tax burden as percent of income (10.3%)
32nd -- Maximum state corporate income tax rates (6.5%)
2nd -- Least expensive state and local property tax burden per capita ($400)

Government:
14th -- Full time state/local gov't employment per 10,000 residents (536)
51st -- Average state/local gov't annual pay ($34,455)
3rd -- 10-yr. change in state per capita total expenditures 1996-2005(40.8%)
36th -- Federal pork per capita by state ($24.72)

Agriculture/Economic:
9th -- Production of commodities: Livestock
2nd -- Production of commodities: Broilers
9th -- Production of commodities: Soybeans
4th -- Production of commodities: Cotton
1st -- Production of commodities: Chicken eggs
4th -- Production of commodities: Turkeys
1st -- Production of commodities: Rice
28th -- Average combined premiums for auto insurance ($875)
15th -- Average homeowners insurance premium ($768)

Education:
34th -- Estimated average salaries of public school teachers ($42,093)
13th -- Student-teacher ratio K-12 (13.8)
11th -- State appropriations for higher ed ($9.93 per $1000 pers. inc.)
36th -- Average ACT scores of 2006 tested graduates (20.6)

Natural Resources:
10th -- Electricity consumption per capita (16.63 megawatthours)
20th -- State per capita spending on natural resources ($111.75)

Transportation:
32nd -- State disbursements for highways per capita ($387.90)
14th -- Annual vehicle-miles of travel per capita (11,504)
37th -- Average daily traffic per lane (10,463 urban/3,812 all principal arterials)

Public Safety/Corrections:
45th -- State and local police and fire spending per capita ($160 police/$58 fire)
14th -- Violent crime rate per 100,000 residents (528)
13th -- Property crime rate per 100,000 residents (4,058)
31st -- State correctional spending per capita ($125.50)
12th -- Incarceration rate (479 per 100,000 residents)

Health & Welfare:
46th -- Welfare recipients as percentage of populaton (0.63%)
12th -- Percent of people w/out health insurance for the entire year (17.1%)
16th -- Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births (7.5)
5th -- Teen birth rate per 1,000 population (60.3)
3rd -- Estimated percentage of population receiving social security (19.9%)
17th -- Percent of state medicaid expenditures for long-term care (37%)

I have a list of the sources the author cites in each of the categories -- shoot me an e-mail if you want them.