Which State Is Best for Summer Road Trips?

Planning a vacation this summer? Bone up on your Oregon trivia — it’s Willamette, dammit! — because the Beaver State is a destination worth the drive, according to WalletHub’s rank of best and worst states for summer road trips.

Related: Tech-Free Travel: Road-Trip Games, No Screen Necessary

The Washington, D.C.-based personal-finance website ranked states across 22 factors in three categories — cost, safety and activity — pulling data on everything from average gas prices and maximum toll costs to vehicle-theft rates and share of land devoted to national parks. Below are the state-by-state rankings:

50. Connecticut

49. Rhode Island

48. Mississippi

47. Pennsylvania

46. North Dakota

45. Delaware

44. Arkansas

43. Kansas

42. New Jersey

41. Montana

40. Hawaii

39. Alabama

38. Massachusetts

37. Oklahoma

36. Wisconsin

35. Missouri

34. Kentucky

33. Indiana

32. Maryland

31. South Dakota

30. Tennessee

29. Iowa

28. West Virginia

27. New Hampshire

26. Ohio

25. Michigan

24. Virginia

23. Vermont

22. South Carolina

21. Alaska

20. New Mexico

19. Nebraska

18. Idaho

17. New York

16. Wyoming

15. Illinois

14. Maine

13. Georgia

12. Florida

11. Arizona

10. Colorado

9. California

8. Minnesota

7. Nevada

6. Texas

5. Louisiana

4. North Carolina

3. Washington

2. Utah

1. Oregon

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Western states ranked highly, with Oregon (No. 1) and Washington state (No. 3) bracketing Utah (No. 2). Road trippers might also consider the South: North Carolina, Louisiana and Texas took the fourth, fifth and sixth spots, respectively.

WalletHub’s study landed the Northeast in the opposite camp, no pun intended. New York and Maine had above-average rankings, but Connecticut landed in last place (No. 50), with Rhode Island (No. 49), Pennsylvania (No. 47), Delaware (No. 45) and New Jersey (No. 42) close behind. See the full study here.

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