These were followed by state economies, infrastructure, and citizen opportunity. Fiscal stability, crime and corrections, and the natural environment were also factored in, with fiscal stability carrying slightly more weight than the latter two.
The land of Pennsylvania was granted to William Penn, son of Admiral William Penn, who had been given the charter by King Charles II in 1681 to pay a £16,000 debt. The land was named by the king in honor of the elder Penn — it meant “Penn’s Woods.”