California, Florida, Hawaii Top the List of Most Popular States to Live in

Rochester, NY—August 6, 2003— California’s state finances are a mess, and its governor faces a recall election but, for the second year running, more Americans would like to live there than in any other state. Florida retains its second place but fails to recapture the top slot which it held every year between 1997 and 2001. And Hawaii retains its third place, even though it is suffering from a decline in tourism and a high cost-of-living.

These are some of the results of a Harris Poll conducted online between July 14 and 20 with 2,215 adults nationwide. Harris Interactive^® used the same methodology to conduct this survey as it did when it predicted the 2000 elections with great accuracy.

The next most popular states in which people would like to live are Colorado (#4), New York (#5), Arizona (#6), Texas (#7), North Carolina (#8), Virginia (#9), and Washington (#10).

Several states have improved their ranking since last year:

• New York moved up from #8 last year to #5 this year.
• Texas, up from #14 to #7.
• Virginia, up from #12 to #9.
• Nevada, which didn’t make the top 15 last year, moved up to #12 now.

States which have lost ground this year include:

• North Carolina, down from #5 last year to #8 this year.
• Montana, down from #11 to #13.
• Alaska, down from #12 to #15.
• Tennessee, which was #7 last year, is not in the top 15 this year.

Most of the top 15 are in the South (4), the West (3) or the Southwest (3). New York is the only state in the Northeast on the list. No Mid-Atlantic or Midwestern states are on the list.

Humphrey Taylor is the chairman of The Harris Poll^®, Harris Interactive.

To view complete data tables for this survey, please go to: http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=393

The Harris Poll^® was conducted online within the United States between July 14 and 20, 2003 among a nationwide cross section of 2,215 adults. Figures for age, sex, race, education and number of adults in the household were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. "Propensity score" weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

In theory, with probability samples of this size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus two percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (non-response), question wording and question order, and weighting. It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors. This online survey is not a probability sample.

About Harris Interactive^®

Harris Interactive (www.harrisinteractive.com) is a worldwide market research and consulting firm best known for The Harris Poll^®, and for pioneering the Internet method to conduct scientifically accurate market research. Headquartered in Rochester, New York, U.S.A., Harris Interactive combines proprietary methodologies and technology with expertise in predictive, custom and strategic research. The Company conducts international research through wholly owned subsidiaries—London-based HI Europe (www.hieurope.com) and Tokyo-based Harris Interactive Japan—as well as through the Harris Interactive Global Network of local market- and opinion-research firms, and various U.S. offices. EOE M/F/D/V

To become a member of the Harris Poll Online^SM and be invited to participate in future online surveys, visit www.harrispollonline.com.

Press Contacts:

Nancy Wong
Harris Interactive
585-214-7316
nwong@harrisinteractive.com