Oil prices are falling, and for many Americans that’s good news, as gas prices at the pump are down and likely will stay that way in the coming months (gasoline futures fell to nearly a six-year low on Wednesday). But for some — especially residents of certain states — the falling oil prices aren’t the best news.
A study released Wednesday by financial site MoneyRates.com , which ranked states based on their rates of oil production, oil consumption and the percentage of oil workers employed in each state’s workforce, found that some states will feel the falling-oil-price burden more heavily than others.
According to Richard Barrington, the senior financial analyst for MoneyRates, while robust oil production is usually good for a state, falling oil prices can hurt high-oil-production-states’ economic performance (not to mention impact the related job market), at the same time that it boosts the economic performance of states that produce little or no oil — in particular those that also consume a lot of it.
Here are the five states most hurt by falling oil prices, according to MoneyRates.com:
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