Worst State to Accept a Job Offer – Here’s Where Louisiana Ranks

(KMDL-FM) It is May, and that means thoughts of Mother's Day, which is this weekend, and graduation, which is not many days away either, are dominating a lot of our conversations. We do have some great suggestions for Mom. But for graduates, the news isn't quite as rosy.

READ MORE: Mother's Day Brunch - Six Spots to Consider

A recent online study revealed that most college graduates overestimate what their starting salaries will be. They don't overestimate by a little; they miss by about $25,000 on average. Salary is certainly a line item that a prospective employee should take a look at. One of the biggest considerations should be the state in which they will be employed.

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How Do Louisiana Job Opportunities Compare to Other States?

Believe it or not, if you took the same job with the same salary and put it in different states, the outcome would likely be different. The folks at Affordable Contractors Insurance researched the details of what being hired for a job in all 50 states entails, and what they discovered about Louisiana might surprise you.

Just so you'll have some background, the  Affordable Contractors Insurance study looked at working conditions, how much of monthly expenses can be covered by a minimum wage salary, how long unemployment benefits last, and workplace safety issues.

Louisiana is Not the Worst State for Job Seekers

You'll be pleased to know that when accepting a job, Louisiana is not the worst state in the nation in which you could be hired. That "honor" goes to another southern state, Alabama. It scored a 99 out of 100 on the worker risk index. The next state behind Alabama was North Carolina.

The surprising third-place state was Idaho. That state was given a 96 on the worker risk index. Worker-related fatal cases appear to be what moved Idaho further up the list than some of its neighboring states.

READ MORE: How Expensive Is It to Own a Home in Louisiana?

After Idaho, in fourth place, you find Louisiana. Our worker risk index was assessed to be 95. The stats for the state suggest that a minimum wage job would cover only 26% of your monthly living expenses and a fatality figure of 7.7 deaths per 100,000 workers.

Other Southern States included in the "Top 10" of not the best places to accept a job include South Carolina and Georgia at five and six, respectively, on the list. Mississippi and Tennessee were also included at numbers 8 and 9, respectively.

The best place you can accept a job? That would be the state of Washington. It offers a high minimum wage, and unemployment benefits in Washington will cover 77% of monthly expenses. By contrast, unemployment benefits in Louisiana will only cover 23% of your monthly expenses.