| The USA Today published a report today on the most corrupt states in the United States. Based on their method of calculating the most corrupt state, you might be a little surprised at which state is the most corrupt.
North Dakota.
That's right. The USA Today used public corruption convictions per 100,000 residents as their basis for this report and found that North Dakota with 8.3 corruption convictions per 100,000 residents is the most corrupt state in the United States. Other challengers for the title include Louisiana (7.7 corruption convictions per 100,000 residents), Alaska (7.5 corruption convictions per 100,000 residents) and Mississippi (7.3 corruption convictions per 100,000 residents).
But if you go by total corruption convictions, New York is a serious contender for most corrupt state in the country. According to the report, over the last 10 years, New York has had 704 convictions. That is second only to Florida, who had a staggering 824 convictions during the same time period. New York has a rate of 3.6 corruption convictions per 100,000 residents, but that's because we have so many people. By comparison, North Dakota only had 53 convictions. But they also have 639,715 residents. New York has over 19 million people.
Simon wrote the other day asking if we deserved to be considered one of the most corrupt states. If we go by the USA Today model, we are in the middle of the pack. But if we go by the number of convictions, only Florida beats us out. While our rate is low based on our population, 704 convictions is still a lot. That averages to about 70 per year and that's nothing to be happy about.
So what model do you go by? The USA Today model, which is based on the number of convictions per 100,000 people? Or the number of convictions? Or would you use something else? |
