Doctors would be wise to consider joining the red migration as Democrats continue to make their own territories uninhabitable.
On Tuesday, WalletHub released a study ranking all 50 states from best to worst in accordance with the working and living conditions they provide doctors. The ranking serves as a guide for doctors to know where they are best suited to practice their profession in steady environments.
It is important for doctors, with their stressful jobs, to be able to maintain steady heads, especially when lives are at stake. A good quality of life and good incentives help ensure that.
State policies and financial opportunities are some of the most significant factors in determining what constitutes a good state for doctors to work in. That is why it should come as no surprise that the top-ranking states for doctors are Republican-leaning ones and that the bottom of the rankings largely consists of Democratic-led states.
According to the study, the top five states are the traditionally red Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Utah, and Indiana. In contrast, the bottom five states are the traditionally blue Hawaii, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and New York.
WalletHub analyst Cassandra Happe explained to me why there is such a stark difference in doctors’ lifestyle quality between red and blue states.
“Typically Republican states tend to prioritize policies that offer good financial opportunities for doctors, such as higher average annual wages, lower malpractice insurance rates, and more favorable conditions for practicing medicine,” Happe said. “Additionally, these states may provide incentives like loan repayment programs and economic development incentives to attract doctors, especially to rural areas.
“On the other hand, typically Democratic states may face challenges such as greater competition among physicians, higher malpractice insurance costs and living expenses, which may hinder doctors’ ability to practice medicine effectively,” she continued.
Doctors already come out of the gate in a pretty stressful financial predicament. They have a median salary of $211,000, which is, of course, much higher than the average American. However, this is significantly weighed down by the fact that they also carry with them an average school debt of $202,000.
Doctors would not be the first to reconsider providing their services to and planting their roots in blue states. President Joe Biden has overseen a dramatic migration of businesses and homeowners from blue states into red states to avoid unfair policies and absurd prices.
Thanks to the draconian crackdown of left-wing governments in blue states during COVID-19, people fled in massive numbers to free red states. From February 2020, right before the pandemic, to its effective end in America in the middle of 2022, red states gained 341,000 jobs, while blue states lost 1.3 million.
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The exodus from dangerous cities continues as well. Investors and business owners have been pulling out of New York City in droves following the financial precedent set by the verdict in the civil fraud case of former president Donald Trump.
If doctors want to thrive in their profession, or at the very least feel stable in it, they should go red.
Parker Miller is a 2024 Washington Examiner Winter Fellow.
