While USA Today last week named North Dakota as the most corrupt state, based on the number of convictions per capita, today’s New York Times offers a few more metrics — that show our neighbor to the west isn’t so bad. Its look at Justice Department statistics finds North Dakota top among states, but fourth overall, while another two measures put the state way down the list — and, in one case, dead last — in corruption.

USA Today gave North Dakota top ranking based on the number of individuals convicted — 8.3 per 100,000 residents — between 1998 and 2007, prompting outrage in the state. But while North Dakota attorney general Wayne Stenehjem called the finding “patently ridiculous,” Grand Forks Herald publisher Mike Jacobs wasn’t so dismissive. Half of the state’s corruption prosecutions occurred on native American reservations, he noted: “We’ve allowed a big gap to grow between white and native communities, and in this gap, corruption has taken root.”

When the Times looked at the same numbers, obtained from the Justice Department and based on annual convictions per one million people, it came to the same conclusion — at least among states. But, more corrupt were the District of Columbia (with 66.9 convictions per million residents), the Virgin Islands (46.9 per million) and Guam (40.5 per million). The Times reports that D.C. “wins big” because of “its high concentration of public officials amid a relatively small population” and the fact that the U.S. Attorney’s office has focused on “rooting out corruption, adding to conviction rates.”

Other measures provided by the Times: Based on the number of public officials found guilty of crimes between 1998 and 2007, Florida is most corrupt, with 824 guilty officials. North Dakota is way down the list: its 53 guilty puts it at number 36, two lower than Minnesota, which saw 66 guilty rulings over that time span. (Iowa ranked 47th of 54 U.S. entities and Wisconsin was 25th.)

Sweetest vindication of all for the “Peace Garden” state? In a survey of statehouse reporters nationwide, North Dakota was in a three-way tie for least corrupt, with South Dakota and Colorado. (On that list, Minnesota was perceived as one of the ten cleanest states, coming in at number 41.) Rhode Island, Louisiana and New Mexico got the top three slots. That’s similar to Corporate Crime Reporter’s findings, which in 2007 put Louisiana in the top slot for crookedest state.

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