Texas

The overall purpose of this blog is to help earn Rochester the respect that it deserves.  In general, this goal can be accomplished simply by highlighting the virtues of Rochester without disparaging other locations.  At times, however, the need to deflate another area is overwhelming.  Take, for instance, the case of Texas.  The Lone Star State has been billed as America's utopia, a land with no taxes, nearly free housing, and two high-paying jobs per every one resident.  But before we all relocate to Dallas, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio, here are a few tidbits worth noting (granted many people may have limited or zero interest in these issues):

• As of 2013, Texas, quite comfortably, had the highest percentage of residents without health insurance (27%) of any state in the country.
• As of 2011, Texas accounted for 12.18% of the country's annual carbon dioxide emissions.  In contrast, its nearest competitor, California, which has about 1.5 times the population of Texas, accounted for only 6.42%.  New York State, despite having 6.26% of the country's population, accounted for only 2.93% of the country's carbon dioxide emissions.
• As of 2013, Texas had 400,000 workers earning at or below minimum wage.  Its closest competitor, Pennsylvania, had 189,000 such workers.
• Judging by the commentary in our local newspapers, Rochester apparently has a crisis of inequality.  As previously shown, Rochester is actually one of the ten least income-segregated large metro areas in the country.  If you want to see true income segregation, move to San Antonio (#1 in the country for income segregation), Houston (#4), Dallas (#8), or Austin (#10).
• As of 2009, about 79.9% of Texas residents aged 25 and over had at least a high school degree, good enough for last in the country.