Pull up a calculator and learn a little about Nevada

I learned long ago that a good way to put readers to sleep is to string together a bunch of numbers high up in a story. So it is with some trepidation that I'm basing this column on statistics. Bear with me, I think you'll find them interesting.

That's because these are statistics that compare Nevada to other states. For instance, did you know that, from April 1, 2000 through July 1, 2005, Nevada's population has grown at a faster rate than any other state, at 36 percent? Of that, 7 percent was natural growth (births minus deaths), 23 percent was migration from other states, and 6 percent was migration from other countries.

Still with me?

That statistic and the others in this column came from a booklet that arrived last week in the daily barrage of mail. It's titled "50 State Comparisons" and is put out by a group called The Taxpayers Network out of Green Bay, Wis. Its mission as a nonprofit group is to educate the public about government and public policy. That may not seem very exciting, but somehow it was to me.

I learned a lot about the Silver State, ranging from the troubling (statistics do not regard our state very highly in terms of educating our children) to the positive (Nevada has the second-smallest government burden on small businesses, which includes taxes and other factors).

Bear in mind that these are statistics, which can be dangerous in the wrong hands. There's a famous quote by Benjamin Disraeli, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

For example, these statistics say more about Las Vegas than they do about Carson City. That's because Las Vegas and its surrounding communities represent a large percentage of the state's population, which tends to minimize Northern Nevada when it's all averaged together.

But it's still fun to compare.

We're a nation of comparers. We want to know how our kids are doing compared to their classmates, how many features our cell phones have compared to our friends, how green our lawns are compared to our neighbors, and on and on.

So let's start with the statistics that seem to shine a positive light on Nevada. Although spun a different way, each could probably end up in a negative category.

The good

• We have the lowest state and local taxes on wireless service, at 1.14 percent (or does that mean we're not getting enough from wireless companies?)

• We rank ninth in economic freedom, which takes into account tax burdens, regulations, labor market and property rights.

• We rank 49th in the 10-year change in state per capita total expenditures, which means the state would seem to have spending under control.

• We are 10th in average state and local government annual pay per employee at $48,774.

• We are 40th in outstanding state debt per capita (2004), at $1,546.

• We are 50th in state public welfare expenditures per capita, at $554, and rank 43rd in the number of welfare recipients, at 0.83 percent.

The bad

• In categories that deal with education, Nevada tends to occupy the same strata in the rankings as states like Mississippi, Alabama and Oklahoma. Here are some examples of our rankings compared to other states and the District of Columbia.

Public school expenditure per pupil (2004-05): rank 46 - $6,525

Student-teacher ratio in public schools (2004-05): rank 47 - 19:4

Projected high school graduation rate (2003-04): rank 49 - 55 percent

Average public school test scores (2005)

Grade 4 math: rank 43

Grade 8 math: rank 43

Grade 4 reading: rank 46

Grade 8 reading: rank 44

For the estimated average salaries of public school teachers (2004-05), we ranked almost at the midpoint at 26th, with $43,394.

Outside of education, there were some other eye-opening rankings.

• We ranked seventh in the percent of people without health insurance (2003-04), at 19 percent.

• Our crime rate per 100,000 population (2003) landed us in ninth place for violent crime, and 12th place for property crime.

• We ranked ninth in percentage of births to unmarried mothers (2004), at 40 percent.

• We're 14th for our incarceration rate per 100,000 residents (2004), at 474.

• We're in sixth place in terms of fatal crashes per billion miles of travel (2004), at 20.4.

• We have a problem with consumer-fraud complaints and identity theft. We ranked fourth in fraud and third in ID theft reports per 100,000 residents.

• Our residential electricity prices for 2004 were the 13th most expensive.

• We ranked 48th in the percent of eligible voters who cast votes in the 2004 presidential election, at 48 percent.

• Nevada is a fairly expensive place to live, based on rental costs (ranked 11th at $787); median homeowner costs, including mortgage, utilities, etc., (ranked 16th at $1,274); median housing value (ranked 13th at $202,937.

• Our auto insurance costs are the 14th most expensive, at $913 per year.

• We ranked only 37th in relative health, which takes into consideration smoking, obesity, crime, vehicle deaths, high school graduation, child poverty and health-care access.

The maybe good, maybe bad

• We have fewer full-time state and local government employees per 10,000 residents than any other state, at 413 (maybe the bad would be for those folks who hate standing in line at the DMV).

• We ranked 11th in the amount of federal pork that came our way per capita in 2005. (We firmly believe that this nation has to control its spending, but, on the other hand, if everyone else is doing it ...)

• We ranked 40th in spending on natural resources, parks and recreation in 2004. But then again, look around. Practically the entire state qualifies as a park.

I realize the negative category above is a bit longer than the positive, but it's good to keep in mind that statistics can't measure everything. I'm pretty sure Nevada would be among the leaders if you could measure all those intangibles that make people happy. In fact, as I look out the window at the hills above Carson City and ponder all the possibilities for the Memorial Day weekend, I'm sure of it.

• Barry Ginter is the editor of the Appeal. Contact him at bginter@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1221.