Maryland has the highest income in the nation, $69K and has in-state costs including room and board around $23K. I am sure that there are families for whom $23K is a lot … but it is no PSU. There are also good schools around the state … and an active 2 year school pathway to UMD.
Louisiana has average income of $44K.
$25K additional income is over $2K per month, which will get you a nice house or apartment anywhere in the state, even near DC. Costs in Louisiana are not zero …
also cars, gas, clothing, target purchases are the same everywhere. food prices in MD have gone down as more chains move in, including low cost ones … There is actually a table in there that goes through what part of a poor families budget goes for what …
The study seems to focus on low income people primarily and how affordable local schools are. There is no way anyone can afford the 88% of (low) income type bills in some states, so they move way down in the rankings.
NJ people make good money, so the Rutgers bill is pretty doable. Penn is not a rich state, so PSU is very expensive. NYS is poor, except for NYC (not to be harsh, but upstate NY has a lot of families in relative poverty).
Cali has good tuition reduction for low income families, so poor families do not have to pay $35K … that is for middle to full pay families … Cali has many good paying jobs, and $15 min wage will help as well. CC->UC pathway is great for low income students, who can even work part-time … and get a UC valuable degree in say 6 years … 4 years at CC, then 2 years focused on getting that BS and making money.