Southland Ranks Low in Financial Security

Orange County, along with Los Angeles and Riverside counties, is one of the worst places to achieve financial security, a new report said.

The study by ReliaStar Financial Corp. ranked the Los Angeles-Riverside--Orange County metropolitan region 94th out of 100 areas measured.

The study used a formula, developed by economists and sociologists, that includes 15 measures of financial security, such as family earnings and wealth, income protection, job creation and job quality. Cost of living, unemployment, crime and other threats to economic security were also factored in, the financial services firm said.

At the top of the list was Minneapolis-St. Paul, which benefits from high household income and savings, high education levels, low unemployment and low housing costs, ReliaStar said.

Despite ranking first in income support programs for low-income households and 10th in job quality, Southern California scored very low on crime, the cost of community services and the percentage of the population with life insurance. The good news was that the area moved up in the overall rankings from 1996, when it was 96th.