South Dakota Is Not a Fun State?

Out of all fifty states in the union, if I was betting a paycheck on it, I would not guess that South Dakota was in the top ten of fun states. And while I disagree, with money riding on it, I wouldn't put it in the top half either.

Wallethub just put out a list of the states you can have the most fun in. I guess they didn't think shoveling out after a blizzard in late April was fun? South Dakota came in at #31, which is actually a little bit higher that I expected.

They factored in all sorts of things like number of restaurants, movie theaters, arts, ideal weather (ouch), miles of beaches, events and fairs, and a bunch more.

When ranked the 605 came in a not so great 35 in "entertainment and recreation." But we scored the #18 spot in nightlife. I guess the number of "casinos" in our state helped raise the average?

1 California
2 Florida
3 New York
4 Washington
5 Colorado
6 Nevada
7 Minnesota
8 Pennsylvania
9 Oregon
10 Texas
31 South Dakota

What I found funny was that, as a state, we had the 47th fewest restaurants per capita. Meanwhile in Sioux Falls it would take you ten years to eat at every restaurant.

Minnesota landed in the #7 spot on the list, aided by the 12 million lakes and miles and miles shoreline they provide. But let's be honest, southern Minnesota is really no different than eastern South Dakota, with the exception of more towns and people. Our weather is really only reliably good for five months out of the year, just like Minnesota. But Minnesota does have the Twin Cities with all the clubs. Compared to the Badlands and the Black Hills and all of our casinos, we really only have a slight advantage in South Dakota.