BDB: Study suggests Florida is among worst states for millennials

It turns out Florida doesn't rank so well when it comes to appealing to millennials.

Or at least that's what a study released by WalletHub, a financial advising company, suggests.

The company compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia to determine the best places for millennials to reside. And the Sunshine State? Well, we came in among the worst states at No. 42 on the list.

Yikes.

The study looked into five main categories to determine the overall rank: affordability, education & health, quality of life, economic health and civic engagement.

Of course, take this study for what you will, and know that part of it included the cost of a Starbucks latte under the "affordability" category. I'm not even kidding.

But it did also delve into other important areas, such as the cost of childcare, home ownership and cost of living to determine affordability, so there's that, too.

Each category included a number of different metrics ranging from the number of millennials who live with their parents, to the number of those diagnosed with depression, to how single-friendly and family-friendly a state is, student loan debt and voter turnout rates, among many other categories. You can view the full study here.

Data used to determine the rankings was pulled from the U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Council for Community and Economic Research, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United Health Foundation, TransUnion, Corporation for National and Community Service, Indeed, Child Care Aware of America and WalletHub research. Whew. That's a lot.

Florida ranked:

35th for affordability

48th for education & health

25th for quality of life

27th for economic health

50th for civic engagement

We ranked low in some of these areas due to the percentage of millennials living with their parents (cue the stereotype jokes), the number of millennials who actually choose to live here (apparently there aren't all that many), millennial home ownership, millennial unemployment and the number of uninsured millennials. I have never written the word "millennial" so many times in one paragraph.

And if you're wondering if the term "millennial" applies to you (because, let's be honest, half of millennials deny that they are a millennial), it's defined as a person born between 1981 and 1997 in this study.

As for places that ranked the most "liveable" places for millennials, the top-ranking areas include:

District of Columbia North Dakota Minnesota Massachusetts Iowa Wisconsin Utah Nebraska Colorado South Dakota

Is this even real life? How can you possibly say it's better to live in Nebraska... or Iowa... or South Dakota. Do people even live in South Dakota? I always assumed it was only populated by elk.

I'm not defensive, you're defensive.

The top 10 worst places for millennials include:

New Mexico West Virginia Mississippi Nevada Alabama Louisiana Oklahoma Arkansas South Carolina Florida

Hey, at least we beat Mississippi?

That being said, clearly they did not factor in the beautiful views we have here in Florida, the number of open jobs and the amount of bizarre (yet entertaining) crime.

For example, just here in Brevard:

— The Orlando-Melbourne International Airport was yet again ranked the No. 6 most scenic runway approach in. the. world. It's the second time in a row the airport was given the distinction from PrivateFly. I mean, it makes sense, you fly right over the beach. I guess us millennials just need to start flying into MLB more often.

— We have tons of open jobs! That is, if you're cool with working at Walmart. The big fancy, new Walmart distribution center in Cocoa is looking to hire 375 full-time workers, with a starting pay at $16.05 per hour. The center will distribute perishable food to Walmart stores across Florida. If this is something you're interested in, be sure to go to the company's info sessions on April 14 or April 28 at Clearlake Middle School. We also have a bunch of engineers and rocket scientists here, so our workforce is fire.

— And weird crime? This is where we shine! For instance, a former reality TV star from "The Bad Girls Club" lived up to the show's reputation in Cocoa Beach. If you've ever actually watched the show (admittedly, I have), this should be of no surprise. Nicky Vargas was arrested for performing oral sex in a public place, without a shirt on and then beating up a witness (allegedly, of course). Hey, she's 28! That makes her a millennial. See! Millennials come to Florida! I don't think she actually lives here, but hey, that should probably boost our rankings, if anything.

See, WalletHub, you just need to include better categories in your rankings and you'll see we are much, much better than you think! But, no really, this is a great place to live.

About BDB

Boiled Down Brevard is an irreverent daily column that puts a quirky spin on today's news. We "boil" it all down. To get BDB daily, download the Florida Today app and allow notifications. We'll send you an alert every evening.

Follow Jessica on Twitter at @JessicaJSaggio.

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