San Diego ranked luckiest town in U.S.

Oct 14, 2011, 8:54 am (30 comments)

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San Diego, which has been touted as having one of the best climates in the United States, is also the luckiest, according to a new ranking.

The sunny southern California city won the top spot in the Men's Health magazine list of America's 100 luckiest towns, with Baltimore, Phoenix, Wilmington in Delaware and Richmond, Virginia not far behind.

"Luck is basically our modern world's magic," said David Zinczenko, editor in chief of the magazine. "People need to believe in luck because it allows them to give a name to the randomness of life, and when you name something, you have more power over it."

To determine the most charmed towns the magazine analyzed data about cities with the most lottery and sweepstake winners, the most hole-in-ones on the golf course, the fewest lighting strikes, the least deaths from falling objects, and the lowest debt due to playing the lottery and race betting.

"San Diego's multiple jackpot winners, its low lightning strike count, and its low number of lightning-related injuries and deaths helped push it to the top," Zinczenko said.

Las Vegas, the gambling capital of the country, and another betting hub, Reno, Nevada, also landed in the top 10.

"It is in the top 10," Zinczenko said about Las Vegas. "And you have to remember that there would be no Vegas if all of the gamblers were lucky all of the time."

At the opposite end of the spectrum Lady Luck was shinning the least on Charleston in West Virginia. It was the town with the highest rate of deaths from falling objects, with four times as many as San Diego, and had no lottery or sweepstake winners.

Tampa in Florida, Jackson, Mississippi and Memphis were also among the least lucky cities.

The Full List

According to Men's Health magazine, the full list of 100 cities can be found below, with the luckiest cities shown at the top.  The magazine defines good luck as follows: the most winners of Powerball, Mega Millions, and Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes; most hole-in-ones (PGA); fewest lightning strikes (including the fatal kind) and deaths from falling objects (Vaisala Inc., National Climatic Data Center, CDC); and least money lost on lottery tickets and race betting (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

1. San Diego, CA   A+
2. Baltimore, MD   A+
3. Phoenix, AZ   A
4. Wilmington, DE   A
5. Richmond, VA   A-
6. San Francisco, CA   A-
7. Las Vegas, NV   A-
8. Philadelphia, PA   A-
9. Louisville, KY   A-
10. Reno, NV   B+

11. San Jose, CA   B+
12. New York, NY   B+
13. Boise, ID   B+
14. Baton Rouge, LA   B+
15. Fort Worth, TX   B+
16. Omaha, NE   B+
17. Indianapolis, IN   B
18. Fresno, CA   B
19. Dallas, TX   B
20. Lincoln, NE   B

21. St. Louis, MO   B
22. Cincinnati, OH   B
23. Los Angeles, CA   B
24. Santa Ana, CA   B-
25. Portland, OR   B-
26. Pittsburgh, PA   B-
27. Tulsa, OK   B-
28. Seattle, WA   B-
29. Denver, CO   B-
30. Fort Wayne, IN   B-

31. Charlotte, NC   B-
32. Milwaukee, WI   C+
33. Houston, TX   C+
34. Kansas City, MO   C+
35. Wichita, KS   C+
36. Chicago, IL   C+
37. Toledo, OH   C+
38. Greensboro, NC   C+
39. Columbus, OH   C+
40. Providence, RI   C+

41. Riverside, CA   C+
42. Bakersfield, CA   C+
43. Oakland, CA   C
44. El Paso, TX   C
45. Minneapolis, MN   C
46. Tucson, AZ   C
47. Sacramento, CA   C
48. Plano, TX   C
49. Honolulu, HI   C
50. Albuquerque, NM   C

51. Virginia Beach, VA   C
52. Washington, DC   C
53. Manchester, NH   C
54. Durham, NC   C-
55. Norfolk, VA   C-
56. Columbia, SC   C-
57. Oklahoma City, OK   C-
58. Cleveland, OH   C-
59. Lexington, KY   C-
60. New Orleans, LA   C-

61. Winston-Salem, NC   C-
62. Detroit, MI   C-
63. Portland, ME   C-
64. Laredo, TX   C-
65. Chesapeake, VA   C-
66. Cheyenne, WY   C-
67. Jersey City, NJ   C-
68. Lubbock, TX   C-
69. Jacksonville, FL   C-
70. Austin, TX   C-

71. Madison, WI   D+
72. Stockton, CA   D+
73. Aurora, CO   D+
74. Birmingham, AL   D+
75. Raleigh, NC   D+
76. San Antonio, TX   D+
77. Atlanta, GA   D+
78. Corpus Christi, TX   D
79. Orlando, FL   D
80. St. Paul, MN   D

81. Buffalo, NY   D
82. Boston, MA   D
83. Salt Lake City, UT   D
84. Colorado Springs, CO   D
85. Des Moines, IA   D
86. Newark, NJ   D-
87. Burlington, VT   D-
88. Little Rock, AR   D-
89. Anchorage, AK   D-
90. Nashville, TN   D-

91. Fargo, ND   F
92. Miami, FL   F
93. Bridgeport, CT   F
94. St. Petersburg, FL   F
95. Billings, MT   F
96. Sioux Falls, SD   F
97. Memphis, TN   F
98. Jackson, MS   F
99. Tampa, FL   F
100. Charleston, WV   F

Reuters, Men's Health, Lottery Post Staff

Comments

dpoly1's avatardpoly1

I live near Pittsburgh, oh nooooooo! Crazy

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by dpoly1 on Oct 14, 2011

I live near Pittsburgh, oh nooooooo! Crazy

Pittsburgh is actually pretty high up - #26.

freeobama's avatarfreeobama

Richmond VA #5 for a lucky place and i have bad luck here wow.No Nod

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Two TN cities rated in the Lucky Cities List, Wooooooooo Hooooooooo!

Let's see:

Nashville - #90  Grade,  D-

Memphis - #97  Grade,  F

I take back the Woooooo Hooooooo.

And please folks, when visiting TN, watch out for lightning and falling objects.

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Oct 14, 2011

Two TN cities rated in the Lucky Cities List, Wooooooooo Hooooooooo!

Let's see:

Nashville - #90  Grade,  D-

Memphis - #97  Grade,  F

I take back the Woooooo Hooooooo.

And please folks, when visiting TN, watch out for lightning and falling objects.

Maybe this news story was right?

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Quote: Originally posted by Todd on Oct 14, 2011

Maybe this news story was right?

LOL, yep, now that ranking is more accurate. Tennessee dead last.

And it's very timely, being done right after The Dragon Lady enacted all her changes.

I'm glad I don't have to walk under any coconut trees when I go outside.

I am  waiting for a tree to fall on my house as we speak though.

ressuccess's avatarressuccess

I didn't know why San Diego is lucky according to this ranking.

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Quote: Originally posted by ressuccess on Oct 14, 2011

I didn't know why San Diego is lucky according to this ranking.

Oddly enough, there's a story about that very thing at the top of this page.

Check it out.

sully16's avatarsully16

Detroit number 62, yikes.

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Quote: Originally posted by sully16 on Oct 14, 2011

Detroit number 62, yikes.

Did you have to mention that DETROIT is way the hell luckier than anywhere in Tennessee? DETROIT?!?!

Now I'm really bummed out.

I bet somehow, someway, a coconut falls on my head today.

sully16's avatarsully16

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Oct 14, 2011

Did you have to mention that DETROIT is way the hell luckier than anywhere in Tennessee? DETROIT?!?!

Now I'm really bummed out.

I bet somehow, someway, a coconut falls on my head today.

LMAO, I didn't want to rub it in.

PS, DON'T LOOK UP.

Nino224's avatarNino224

Well, if they ever make a list of the best places to be a lottery player it would be Massachusetts. No contest. The number of people winning big jackpots from scratch-offs is staggering. And now that they converted their Mass Cash game from twice a week to daily, the money seems to be growing on trees over there.

Go to their site and click on Winners.

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by Nino224 on Oct 14, 2011

Well, if they ever make a list of the best places to be a lottery player it would be Massachusetts. No contest. The number of people winning big jackpots from scratch-offs is staggering. And now that they converted their Mass Cash game from twice a week to daily, the money seems to be growing on trees over there.

Go to their site and click on Winners.

Massachusetts also ranks #2 nationwide in lottery sales, behind only New York, with $4.4 billion in sales in Fiscal 2011.

C0w Pi3

Wilmington,Delaware Ranked #4 wohoo! lol

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