GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) – If you live alone in North Carolina, you’ve chosen a good place to do so.
Research collected by NiceRx, an online-prescription company that serves all 50 states and Puerto Rico, rated our state No. 6 on an index of best places for solo living.
The research was based on an aggregation of rankings from across the nation for several factors (as rated by various sources):
- Median monthly rent for 1 bedroom.
- Percentage of single-person households.
- Safety score.
- Cost of living.
- Activity groups.
- Hospitals, per 100,000 people.
On a scale of 10, the state’s Solo Living score was 5.6, which ties with Alaska and Tennessee, two of the three Southern states atop the list. Louisiana was No. 3 with a score of 6.3.
The best states for solo living are, in order, Idaho (6.5), Nebraska, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Indiana, Alaska-Tennessee-North Carolina, New Mexico and Illinois.
How NC did
The research gave North Carolina an overall safety score of 60.1 out of 100 (second highest), and its cost-of-living index was at 71.7 out of 100 (fifth highest). The state typically ranked about eighth in each of the categories.
The release for NiceRx listed these factors about the state:
- Median monthly rent for one bedroom is $907.
- There are 28.6% of single person households across the state.
- There are 3.8 activity groups per 100,000 people.
- There are 1.3 hospitals per 100,000 people.
- There are 4.77 health centers per 100,000 people.
- Average cost of health insurance is $7,115.
“Idaho is perfect for solitary nature lovers,” NiceRx wrote in its release. “With wide-open spaces and friendly neighbors, it scored as one of the safest places in our index. The state also has a high number of group activities per 100,000 people.”
If you are interested in superlatives, New Mexico was tops in three categories, including having the highest percentage of single-person households (31.3%). It had the lowest cost of living and the lowest average health insurance cost ($6,088).
Kentucky had the lowest average rent ($763), and Colorado was best for group activities. Utah was the safest state, but Alaska had the most hospitals per 100K, and Florida had the most health centers per million.
If you are older
The research also broke down the best states for elderly solo living by adapting some of the same sort of criteria and using the same process. This included average costs of assisted-living facilities and the amount of pension income figured to live comfortably.
North Carolina didn’t make that top 10, but neither did any other Southern state. Utah, Idaho, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and South Dakota were on top.
In the release, NiceRx said that Utah “has a very low cost of assisted living coupled with a high number of assisted living facilities as well as scoring highly for health care quality. Utah’s thriving economy and ample opportunities for retirees to keep active make it an attractive location for older generations.”
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