Giving thanks to be in Iowa

By Gary L. Maydew

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“We gather together ... ”

Iowans will be gathering with relatives and friends all across the nation, indeed the world, this Thanksgiving Day and week. Many of us will travel outside the state to visit (often children who have departed the state). Others of us will welcome children and others who come back, and for a few days our visitors will enjoy a nostalgic reminiscence about our land on the prairie.

The Perry Como song, “There's no place like home for the holidays,” still rings true.

Late November is perhaps not the best time to show off our state to visitors and expatriates. The foliage, astonishingly beautiful in this, a drought year, is gone - revealing the bare trees, only partially obscuring the harvested corn and bean fields.

And we never know what kind of weather greets us on turkey day. Perhaps a sunny, yet breezy day, good for touch football, if the designated quarterbacks have strong arms. Or maybe some light snow that brings along a portent of winter, and makes the omnipresent football games on TV an attractive option.

Weather aside, we Iowans have much to be grateful for this year. So, dear readers, if you can indulge a “numbers” guy, here are seven reasons to feel grateful for living in Iowa:

l Our low unemployment rate. Think you would prefer the warm weather states of California and Florida? Their September unemployment rates were 8.9 and 7.0 respectively. Our rate? 4.6 percent (eighth lowest nationwide).

l Our low cost of living. Still want to move, near the Colorado ski slopes, or to sunny California? To live on what $80,000 of household income in Cedar Rapids purchases, you would need $91,244 in Denver and $114,794 in San Diego.

l Our (fairly low) crime rate. Think it would be cool to live in the gambling heart of the United States, or perhaps the Big Apple, but you are concerned about crime? Iowa ranks 33rd (50th is best), but Nevada is No. 3 and New York state 22nd in this dismal statistic about violent crime.

l Worried about sending your children to college? And worry you should, but less so as a resident of Iowa. Total annual cost at Iowa State University (as of the latest available statistics) is less than $20,000. Residents of Connecticut pay more than $28,000 for their children to attend that state's flagship university; cost at Arizona State is more than $23,000.

l Hate smog? Ames, Cedar Rapids and the Des Moines metro all make the list of cleanest cities for ozone air pollution. Dallas-Fort Worth (seventh dirtiest), and Philadelphia (20th) not so much.

l Want to live in a state whose fiscal house is in order? A survey of states that weights state finances and state debt heavily lists Iowa fifth best. The populous states of New Jersey (46th), Illinois (48th) and California (50th) did not fare so well.

l And finally, believe (as do I) that attending church generally improves people. Many of us went to church the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Indeed, in 2009, close to 45 percent of Iowans attended church almost weekly. Move to the northwest corner or the northeast corner of the U.S., however, and you will find fewer fellow attendees (32 percent in Washington; 29 percent in Massachusetts.

Two caveats regarding the statistics listed above: The intention is not to put down any state. Each of the 50 states has its advantages. Also, all statistics should be taken with a grain of salt.

But as you gather around the table laden with the cornucopia of food that typifies our Thanksgiving meals, be grateful that you are in Iowa. It's a great place in which to live.

Gary L. Maydew of Ames is a retired accounting professor at Iowa State University. Data sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics; CNN Money: Cost of Living Calculator and College Cost Calculator; Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the U.S.; American Lung Association, State of the Air 2013; Wall Street 24/7, The Best and Worst Run States in America; Gallup poll on church attendance. Comments: glmaydew@hotmail.com