COMMUNITY

Study: NM ranks 15th for a summer of fun

Dianne L. Stallings
Ruidoso News

"Fun" can mean vastly different things to different people, but the aim for many is to live in a place that caters to personal preferences for entertainment.

But that’s not always the case, which may drive people to live somewhere new, analysts with the personal financial website WalletHub said.

For certain states, fun is a way of life. Those states offer such a variety of activities that everyone will be able to find something that excites them, they wrote in a study recently released about states offering the most fun to residents.

Small boats with electric motors are allowed this summer at Grindstone Lake in Ruidoso. Canoes and kayaks already are paddled around the fishing reservoir.

New Mexico ranked 15th overall for fun.

New Mexico was also ranked in other areas by the study.

  • 5th – Access to National Parks
  • 4th – Casinos per Capita
  • 11th – Variety of Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Establishments
  • 12th – Skiing Facilities per Capita
  • 29th – Personal Spending on Recreation Services per Capita

"With pure enjoyment in mind, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 26 key indicators of a jolly good time that won’t break the bank," the analysts wrote. "They range from movie costs to accessibility of national parks to casinos per capita. Scroll down for the winners, money-saving advice from a panel of experts and a full description of our methodology."

Ski Apache completed a new 5.5 mile mountain bike trail that travels under Sierra Blanca Peak from the top of the gondola, back to the base area of Ski Apache.

Categories of fun

To determine the most fun states in America, WalletHub compared the 50 states across two key categories, “entertainment & recreation” and “nightlife.”

"We evaluated those categories using 26 relevant metrics," the study read. "Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 indicating the greatest number and variety of fun and cost-effective options."

They then determined each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order the sample.

More:WalletHub ranks best states for working mothers

More:Study: New Mexico most federally-dependent state

With summer just around the corner and families planning out their vacations, the ranking of the most fun states could influence decisions about where to spend their time and money.

Piece by piece throughout the day, an inflatable water park called a Wibit began to take shape as a new attraction this year at Grindstone Lake in Ruidoso.

To determine the states offering the greatest variety and most cost-effective options for enjoyment, WalletHub also compared metrics from movie costs to accessibility of national parks to casinos per capita.

For the full report, visit https://wallethub.com/edu/most-fun-states/34665/.

The top 10 "Most fun states"

  1. California
  2. Florida
  3. New York
  4. Washington
  5. Colorado
  6. Nevada
  7. Minnesota
  8. Pennsylvania
  9. Oregon
  10. Texas

The 10 "Least fun states"

  1. West Virginia
  2. Mississippi
  3. Delaware
  4. Rhode Island
  5. Vermont 
  6. Arkansas
  7. Alabama
  8. Connecticut
  9. New Hampshire
  10. Kansas