In the comments, Steve Sailer cites:
Moynihan’s Law of Proximity to the Canadian Border: on just about any
socially positive measure, there is a positive correlation between a
state’s ranking and it’s distance from the Canadian border: e.g.,
Minnesota is usually in the top ten states on anything.
Not in population, where it’s only #21. And with no offense to my readers frm Minnesota, I have to ask Steve: If Minnesota’s so great, why don’t you move there? Even if Steve’s got special circumstances, why aren’t millions of other Americans flooding into this promised land? I grant that weather’s a factor, but here are two of comparable importance:
1. Minnesota’s high rankings are largely arithmetic, not causal. Whites have above-average performance, and Minnesota’s over 85% white (non-Hispanic), so Minnesota has above-average performance. But this doesn’t mean that whites who move to Minnesota enjoy a much higher quality of life than they would in their current state.
2. Minnesota is, well, boring. And a big part of the reason is lack of immigration to bring varied food, entertainment, and yes – diversity.