States with highest and lowest number of people without health insurance

It's pretty pathetic that California is lumped with low-achievement states like Mississippi, South Carolina, and of course Texas. Last year, 7.2 million Californians, or nearly one in five, had no health insurance, according to the Census Bureau. I haven't come across much analysis on why the California numbers are so high. A couple of obvious guesses: a big population of low-income, poorly educated workers (many of them undocumented), and several major industries (construction, retail, and leisure and hospitality) that often don't offer coverage. Also don't forget that California skews on the young side, and young folks will sometimes bypass coverage. And of course the recession. Here's how the numbers break out according to states. And here's the Census report.

HIGHEST
--Texas (24.6%)
--New Mexico (21.6%)
--Nevada (21.3%)
--Mississippi (21.1%)
--Florida (20.8%)
--South Carolina (20.6%)
--Louisiana (20.0%)
--Georgia (19.4%)
--California (19.4%)
--Arizona (19.1%)

LOWEST
--Massachusetts (5.6%)
--Hawaii (7.7%)
--Maine (9.4%)
--Wisconsin 9.4%)
--Vermont (9.5%)
--Minnesota (9.8%)
--New Hampshire (10.3%)
--Pennsylvania (11.0%)
--Connecticut (11.0%)
--Delaware (11.3%)