Virginia named best U.S. state for immigrants

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Virginia has earned the top spot as the best state for immigrants in the country, according to a new study.

According to a March 4 report by the nonprofit tech company SmileHub, Virginia is the No. 1 state for foreign-born residents living and working nationwide. The study identified the best U.S. states for immigrants based on three key dimensions: social environment and support, economic environment, and legal environment and stability detractors.

Each dimension also features a set of metrics that assesses the share of immigrants, the income gap between immigrants and non-immigrants, hate crime incidents per capita, public school system ranking and more. In total, the three dimensions add up to 100 points.

Per the study, Virginia placed fifth in social environment and support, 21st in economic environment and 23rd in legal environment and stability detractors. The commonwealth totaled 60.98 points, the highest in the nation.

Georgia, Nebraska, Arkansas and North Carolina together rounded out the top five best states for immigrants. SmileHub also identified Alaska, Oregon, Hawaii, Arizona, New Mexico and Vermont as the worst states, with Alaska placing last at 33.03 points.

Click here to see the full report.