1 Friendly people
You hear so much about Minnesota Nice. People across the country are more or less friendly, right? Well, our state's reputation is deserved. People are a little bit nicer in Minnesota than elsewhere, but we are just acting as people should be â humble, kind and giving. Southern Minnesota is considered the birthplace of Minnesota Nice. We are givers, not takers. You can't measure nice, but you can give an anecdote: When the country had a flu shortage in 2004, Minnesota did not have so much of a problem because many people gave up their flu shots so others could have them.

2 Community involvement
Morgan Quitno ranked Minnesota this year as the second most livable state, right behind New Hampshire. The rankings consider low crime and poverty, employment, education and community involvement. People in Minnesota are involved in their communities. They know their neighbors and they like them, too. Who wants to live in New England anyway? Midwesterners are hands down nicer than East Coast people.

3 Great health care
Morgan Quitno placed Minnesota second behind Vermont for healthiest state this year. The United Health Foundation has Minnesota in first place. We're sure if you take all the health rankings from all the health rankers and rank the states by how high they consistently rank over the years, Minnesota would come out on top. Southern Minnesota is the home for the famous Mayo Clinic and hospitals with the Mayo Health System are found all over the region.

4 Strong work ethic
Minnesota has the highest labor force participation in the country. That means our state's workforce gets the work done, doesn't quit and has low absenteeism. It has one of the lowest rates for nonfatal and occupational injuries in the nation. We are big on training and we have quality jobs, too. Plus, our region benefits from community-minded agencies such as Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation. Many regions of states don't have such organizations.

5 Quality education
The Upper Midwest once dominated the rankings for education, but now New England states are taking the top spots. Minnesota still places high, though many feel it needs to earn stars again by returning education to a higher funding priority, particularly for equitable funding. Nevertheless, the public schools are far better than what is found in other parts of the country. And Southern Minnesota is dotted with excellent colleges and universities.

6 Religious freedom
Minnesota is known for its multitudes of Luthrans. But the state has been home to many Christian denominations - from Presbyterians, Covenants and Methodists to Catholics, Mormons and Universal Unitarians. With immigration to the country and movement of people within the country, not to mention greater awareness of diversity, synagogues, mosques - especially among Somali immigrants - and temples for several Asian religions can be found across Southern Minnesota, all practicing their faiths in our safe haven.

7 Peaceful communities
North Dakota might win the prize for safest state from Morgan Quitno, but you can draw your own conclusions of why that is. The metro area must drag Minnesota's overall ranking down, because residents of Southern Minnesota love the region's low crime rates. It is a great place to raise a family and let your children play. The factor attracts professionals to work at companies all across Southern Minnesota.

8 Low poverty rate
Minnesota has the eighth lowest poverty rate among states, and its rate of child poverty is the ninth lowest, according to the latest Census Bureau figures. It has the 10th highest median household income. Though Minnesota in recent years has failed to see a decline in poverty and failed to see an increase in income, it remains a blessed place to reside.

9 Neighbors helping Neighbors
When disaster strikes, we help out. Tornado, flood, fire, bridge collapse, Minnesotans think about helping people, not robbing them. Somebody Ñ we heard this on the radio - put together a ranking of how well areas of the country do for helping their neighbors. Louisana was at the bottom, with post-Katrina behavior as the prime example, and Minnesota was at the top, with post-I-35W bridge as the main example. It's good to know we can trust each other. That's the way it should be.

10 Natural abundance
We've got it pretty good. Our wonderful dirt is great for growing crops; in fact, it is among the world's best and is the backbone for the agriculture that blankets our region. Lakes and rivers provide us with recreation and relaxation. Lakes are at the heart of cities such as Albert Lea and Fairmont and rivers run through downtowns of cities such as Rochester and Mankato. Hardwood forests beautify the hills in southeastern Minnesota, while meadows cover prairies in some cropless places of south central and southwestern Minnesota. It's a heartwarming landscape.