New Hampshire tops survey; Louisiana scrapes bottom.

It's that time again ... Morgan Quitno Press of Lawrence, Kan., becoming a household name in the rankings business (Safest City, Healthiest State, Smartest State etc.), has just released its 16th annual survey of the nation's Most Livable State.

And for the third year in a row, New Hampshire topped Morgan Quitno's chart.

New Hampshire (you may be asking)?

"Citizens of New Hampshire enjoy low unemployment, low crime rates, high levels of household income and high levels of education. The state has a stellar record in may of the categories we considered for our award," said Scott Morgan, president of Morgan Quitno Press, in a news release.

The rankings are based on a total of 44 factors -- negative factors such as crime rate, pupil-teacher ratio, unemployment rate, infant mortality and suicide rates, and positive factors, such as gross state product, median household income, books per capita in public libraries and number of sunny days (we kid you not!).

You might say Louisiana has a pretty good excuse this year for being last in livability, with Hurricane Katrina cleanup and reconstruction proceeding at a snail's pace ... and with a significant part of the population living somewhere else.

As the Morgan Quitno news release charitably pointed out, Louisiana moved into last place in this year's survey "for the first time in eight years."

But according to a table of results found on the Morgan Quitno Web site that dates back to the survey's first year in 1991, Louisiana was 49th for the past five years, and in 1999 and 2000 climbed all the way up to 48 -- its highest point in 16 years.

It was No. 50 for seven of the survey's first eight years, suggesting there may be a systemic problem at work.

New Mexico has bounced around in the 40s throughout the history of the survey, starting out in 1991 at No. 47 and bouncing back this year to 41. According to the survey, the Land of Enchantment had its best years in 1993 and 2003 when it peaked at 40. (We wonder what was going on in those years.)

The top five states in descending order are New Hampshire, Minnesota, Iowa, Vermont and New Jersey(!).
At the other end of the scale, from Louisiana at the bottom we climb upward through Mississippi, Arkansas, Kentucky and South Carolina.

The 624-page "State Rankings 2006," which compares all the states in 550 categories, is available in paperback for $59.95 ($6 for shipping and handling).

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