Experiment of the States - Part 2: Show Me The Money!

This is a continuation of the "Experiment of the States" series.  The significance and purpose of this type of data analysis is explained here.

So does money replace religious values? 

When studying the states, there seems to be a slight trend that would support this theory (see chart below, where each data point represents a single state).  I did not include a trend line on this chart because it does not appear to be a linear relationship. Instead, it is more like an area under a line. [Here’s a good way to view it… having more income seems to lower the importance of religion, but just because a state has lower income, doesn’t mean it will be more religious.] 

We all know that with more money comes more happiness, right? WRONG! So far I have found no evidence of a direct link between income and overall happiness ratings between the states. And contrary to what conservatives may think, there is also no direct link between religion and happiness either. Though, keep in mind that overall happiness ratings by various polling companies are very subjective. 

So what does change for states with higher incomes, and why are they less religious? Is it the money or is it something else entirely?  What does it all mean?  Below are just a few more interesting trends to consider before trying to answer these questions. 

First, it is obvious that the states with the higher incomes are more liberal. This should be no surprise to people paying attention to the demographics of cities and states.  See the chart below for this relationship. 

Now, if you take the original chart – the one that compares a state's average income per capita to its percent of population claiming religion to be important – and separate the states' data by the two ideological extremes, you will notice another interesting trend. Liberal states always seem to be less religious no matter what their income is (this matches part 1 of the "experiment of the states" blog series). Conservative states seem to have a downward trend. 

Here's another interesting trend... Everyone has probably heard the saying, “you get what you pay for." In most cases this idiom will turn out to be true (hence why it has become an idiom), but when it comes to a state's resulting productivity in relation to its income per capita, the saying only holds true for conservative states. Liberal states have no increase in productivity with increased income, but conservative states have a significant upward trend in productivity with increased incomes. [Note that this productivity number is a net calculation. It subtracts the income per capita from the gross productivity per capita. You could consider this number as an economic “efficiency” rating.]

Now what about debt? You would think that higher incomes would help pay off a state’s debt, but this is not true at all. In fact, the opposite is true!  States with higher incomes will have higher amounts of debt, but income alone is not the sole contributor to this debt trend.  There is slight evidence that a state's debt per capita also depends on its religious values. First, you’ll notice in the chart below that the most religious states seem to have lower incomes (probably because they are usually less educated, too), but within their range of income, there is not much change in debt. They all seem to have low amounts of debt.  On the contrary, states that are less religious tend to have increased debt with increased income levels. 

These are all just noticeable trends at this point, but it seems that a lot of them can easily be explained. This may support the theory that they are cause and effect relationships involved. 

Do you think these data trends are just coincidences, or can they all be rationalized and explained? 

Note that all data shown on this page is from 2008 and 2009. 

Sources:

United States’ Census Bureau record of 'Persons 25 Years Old and Over with Bachelor's Degree or More, 2008', 'Gross Domestic Product by State in Current Dollars, 2008', and 'Personal Income Per Capita in Current Dollars, 2008'. "The 2012 Statistical Abstract: State Rankings". http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/rankings.html(accessed on October 28, 2012). 

Gallup record of Total Conservative and Total Liberal Populations. Published on August 14, 2009. "'Conservative' Label Prevails in the South" by Lydia Saad. http://www.gallup.com/poll/122333/Political-Ideology-Conservative-Label-Prevails-South.aspx#1(accessed on October 31, 2012). 

Gallup record of Importance of Religion. Posted on January 28, 2009. "State of the States: Importance of Religion" by Frank Newport. http://www.gallup.com/poll/114022/state-states-importance-religion.aspx#1(accessed on October 31, 2012).