Families often gather for Thanksgiving, but this year, due to the pandemic, things are different.
In order to minimize virus transmission and promote safety, families and friends should choose smaller, separate dinners connected by video calls, whether by choice or because of state regulations.
WalletHub has compared the 50 states across 10 key items to see which provide the safest conditions for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The data analyzed includes how the state is handling the covid-19 pandemic, such as positive testing rate and death rate in the past week, as well as other indicators of general safety such as the crime rate and the average number of DUI-related fatalities in November.
Source: WalletHub
Safest States to Spend Thanksgiving
| Overall Rank (1 = Best) |
State | Total Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vermont | 89.76 |
| 2 | Maine | 89.58 |
| 3 | New Hampshire | 80.00 |
| 4 | New York | 78.89 |
| 5 | Washington | 78.66 |
| 6 | Virginia | 76.55 |
| 7 | Massachusetts | 76.01 |
| 8 | Hawaii | 74.90 |
| 9 | New Jersey | 72.61 |
| 10 | Maryland | 71.68 |
| 11 | Pennsylvania | 71.24 |
| 12 | California | 71.02 |
| 13 | Connecticut | 70.86 |
| 14 | Oregon | 69.00 |
| 15 | Colorado | 67.16 |
| 16 | Ohio | 67.12 |
| 17 | Rhode Island | 66.82 |
| 18 | Utah | 63.97 |
| 19 | North Carolina | 61.51 |
| 20 | Kentucky | 61.43 |
| 21 | West Virginia | 60.93 |
| 22 | Minnesota | 58.45 |
| 23 | Arizona | 57.76 |
| 24 | Nevada | 57.67 |
| 25 | Delaware | 56.65 |
| 26 | Kansas | 54.54 |
| 27 | Michigan | 53.42 |
| 28 | Florida | 53.22 |
| 29 | Idaho | 52.57 |
| 30 | Georgia | 50.38 |
| 31 | Alaska | 47.94 |
| 32 | South Carolina | 47.40 |
| 33 | Wisconsin | 47.20 |
| 34 | Louisiana | 46.49 |
| 35 | Arkansas | 46.48 |
| 36 | Indiana | 46.25 |
| 37 | Illinois | 45.92 |
| 38 | Texas | 43.88 |
| 39 | Tennessee | 43.11 |
| 40 | Oklahoma | 42.83 |
| 41 | Wyoming | 42.19 |
| 42 | Alabama | 40.57 |
| 43 | Iowa | 38.92 |
| 44 | Nebraska | 38.62 |
| 45 | Mississippi | 38.22 |
| 46 | North Dakota | 36.16 |
| 47 | Missouri | 34.01 |
| 48 | Montana | 27.75 |
| 49 | New Mexico | 27.71 |
| 50 | South Dakota | 19.70 |
Dear Rita, one thing for sure, Covid is one shure-fire way to keep people face-less and apart from one another. Oh yeah, video equipment is better than nothing, but it’s so not the same as actually being there.
Interesting info., but for us, we’re not traveling, we’re staying in # 11 Pennsylvania.