What's The Best State In America?
Ask 100 people "What's the best state in America" and you might get 100 different answers. Well, at least 50 different answers (or 51 if we throw the District of Columbia in there also). However, in 2024 US News and World Reports attempted to use data to determine the best state in the union.
They looked at all kinds of data: from health care and education, to the economy, infrastructure, and public safety. They also took into account the state's natural environment, fiscal stability of the government, as well as the opportunity it affords its residents. Putting all those data points together, this is the ranking of all 50 states...
We think the results may surprise you.
50: Louisiana
Crime & Corrections: 50th
Economy: 49th
Education: 47th
Fiscal Stability: 41st
Health Care: 46th
Infrastructure: 49th
Natural Environment: 49th
Opportunity: 44th
49: New Mexico
Crime & Corrections: 48th
Economy: 45th
Education: 50th
Fiscal Stability: 33rd
Health Care: 38th
Infrastructure: 44th
Natural Environment: 32nd
Opportunity: 36th
48: Mississippi
Crime & Corrections: 25th
Economy: 50th
Education: 35th
Fiscal Stability: 45th
Health Care: 50th
Infrastructure: 48th
Natural Environment: 20th
Opportunity: 35
47: Arkansas
Crime & Corrections: 49th
Economy: 40th
Education: 38th
Fiscal Stability: 27th
Health Care: 47th
Infrastructure: 42nd
Natural Environment: 35th
Opportunity: 29th
46: West Virginia
Crime & Corrections: 21st
Economy: 48th
Education: 48th
Fiscal Stability: 18th
Health Care: 48th
Infrastructure: 50th
Natural Environment: 39th
Opportunity: 16
Daniel G. Rego, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
45: Alaska
Crime & Corrections: 44th
Economy: 46th
Education: 46th
Fiscal Stability: 21st
Health Care: 27th
Infrastructure: 46th
Natural Environment: 44th
Opportunity: 21st
Frank K., CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
44: Alabama
Crime & Corrections: 28th
Economy: 32nd
Education: 45th
Fiscal Stability: 19th
Health Care: 44th
Infrastructure: 36th
Natural Environment: 47th
Opportunity: 31st
DXR, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
43: Oklahoma
Crime & Corrections: 36th
Economy: 23rd
Education: 49th
Fiscal Stability: 26th
Health Care: 49th
Infrastructure: 17th
Natural Environment: 38th
Opportunity: 26th
Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
42: Michigan
Crime & Corrections: 38th
Economy: 28th
Education: 41st
Fiscal Stability: 32nd
Health Care: 29th
Infrastructure: 41st
Natural Environment: 30th
Opportunity: 27th
Crisco 1492, Wikimedia Commons
41: South Carolina
Crime & Corrections: 43rd
Economy: 22nd
Education: 42nd
Fiscal Stability: 28
Health Care: 30th
Infrastructure: 37th
Natural Environment: 19th
Opportunity: 42nd
40: Pennsylvania
Crime & Corrections: 16th
Economy: 41st
Education: 39th
Fiscal Stability: 44th
Health Care: 11th
Infrastructure: 43rd
Natural Environment: 37th
Opportunity: 24th
Ted Eytan, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
39: Kentucky
Crime & Corrections: 8th
Economy: 47th
Education: 34th
Fiscal Stability: 43rd
Health Care: 40th
Infrastructure: 24th
Natural Environment: 28th
Opportunity: 17th
Ken Lund, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
38: Illinois
Crime & Corrections: 15th
Economy: 43rd
Education: 16th
Fiscal Stability: 50th
Health Care: 28th
Infrastructure: 25th
Natural Environment: 36th
Opportunity: 40th
Shalileh, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
37: California
Crime & Corrections: 34th
Economy: 34th
Education: 23rd
Fiscal Stability: 42nd
Health Care: 6th
Infrastructure: 32nd
Natural Environment: 33rd
Opportunity: 50th
36: Ohio
Crime & Corrections: 33rd
Economy: 39th
Education: 27th
Fiscal Stability: 17th
Health Care: 35th
Infrastructure: 30th
Natural Environment: 41st
Opportunity: 20th
35: Missouri
Crime & Corrections: 45th
Economy: 25th
Education: 30th
Fiscal Stability: 10th
Health Care: 45th
Infrastructure: 34th
Natural Environment: 17th
Opportunity: 15th
Bev Sykes, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
34: Hawaii
34 overall—but you'll notice Hawaii is number 1 in Health Care and Natural Environment.
Crime & Corrections: 10th
Economy: 42nd
Education: 32nd
Fiscal Stability: 46th
Health Care: 1st
Infrastructure: 47th
Natural Environment: 1st
Opportunity: 41st
33: Nevada
Crime & Corrections: 40th
Economy: 5th
Education: 37th
Fiscal Stability: 31st
Health Care: 34th
Infrastructure: 6th
Natural Environment: 48th
Opportunity: 32nd
Carchiav, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
32: Arizona
Crime & Corrections: 30th
Economy: 10th
Education: 44th
Fiscal Stability: 30th
Health Care: 20th
Infrastructure: 18th
Natural Environment: 42nd
Opportunity: 34th
Tobias Alt, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
31: Oregon
Crime & Corrections: 46th
Economy: 33rd
Education: 40th
Fiscal Stability: 22nd
Health Care: 23rd
Infrastructure: 2nd
Natural Environment: 18th
Opportunity: 38th
Kevin Crosby, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
30: Indiana
Crime & Corrections: 19th
Economy: 29th
Education: 25th
Fiscal Stability: 25th
Health Care: 41st
Infrastructure: 23rd
Natural Environment: 50th
Opportunity: 9th
29: Texas
Crime & Corrections: 41st
Economy: 6th
Education: 29th
Fiscal Stability: 8th
Health Care: 31st
Infrastructure: 19th
Natural Environment: 45th
Opportunity: 48th
28: Maine
Crime & Corrections: 2nd
Economy: 35th
Education: 43rd
Fiscal Stability: 34th
Health Care: 19th
Infrastructure: 40th
Natural Environment: 25th
Opportunity: 2nd
27: Tennessee
Crime & Corrections: 42nd
Economy: 12th
Education: 31st
Fiscal Stability: 5th
Health Care: 42nd
Infrastructure: 21st
Natural Environment: 34th
Opportunity: 22nd
26: Rhode Island
Crime & Corrections: 7th
Economy: 18th
Education: 36th
Fiscal Stability: 47th
Health Care: 5th
Infrastructure: 45th
Natural Environment: 3rd
Opportunity: 33rd
25: Kansas
Crime & Corrections: 29th
Economy: 27th
Education: 19th
Fiscal Stability: 40th
Health Care: 36th
Infrastructure: 5th
Natural Environment: 40th
Opportunity: 7th
Seraph1888, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
24: Montana
Crime & Corrections: 35th
Economy: 9th
Education: 22nd
Fiscal Stability: 37th
Health Care: 32nd
Infrastructure: 27th
Natural Environment: 31st
Opportunity: 8th
23: New York
Crime & Corrections: 24th
Economy: 44th
Education: 12th
Fiscal Stability: 23rd
Health Care: 8th
Infrastructure: 29th
Natural Environment: 5th
Opportunity: 49th
Dllu, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
22: Maryland
Crime & Corrections: 18th
Economy: 31st
Education: 20th
Fiscal Stability: 29th
Health Care: 7th
Infrastructure: 33rd
Natural Environment: 6th
Opportunity: 30th
21: Delaware
Crime & Corrections: 32nd
Economy: 21st
Education: 33rd
Fiscal Stability: 4th
Health Care: 9th
Infrastructure: 26th
Natural Environment: 43rd
Opportunity: 13th
20: Connecticut
Crime & Corrections: 6th
Economy: 17th
Education: 8th
Fiscal Stability: 49th
Health Care: 3rd
Infrastructure: 28th
Natural Environment: 21st
Opportunity: 47th
jglazer75, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
19: North Carolina
Crime & Corrections: 23rd
Economy: 11th
Education: 21st
Fiscal Stability: 11th
Health Care: 24th
Infrastructure: 31st
Natural Environment: 23rd
Opportunity: 23rd
Harrison Keely, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
18: Georgia
Crime & Corrections: 20th
Economy: 15th
Education: 26th
Fiscal Stability: 13st
Health Care: 33rd
Infrastructure: 14th
Natural Environment: 14th
Opportunity: 25th
DXR, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
17: Wisconsin
Crime & Corrections: 31st
Economy: 30th
Education: 6th
Fiscal Stability: 15th
Health Care: 22nd
Infrastructure: 35th
Natural Environment: 27th
Opportunity: 5th
Downspec, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
16: Colorado
Crime & Corrections: 47th
Economy: 4th
Education: 5th
Fiscal Stability: 36th
Health Care: 12th
Infrastructure: 12th
Natural Environment: 26th
Opportunity: 39th
James St. John, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
15: North Dakota
When it comes to infrastructure, it would appear that no one does it better than North Dakota.
Crime & Corrections: 26th
Economy: 38th
Education: 28th
Fiscal Stability: 2nd
Health Care: 37th
Infrastructure: 1st
Natural Environment: 12th
Opportunity: 6th
Jonathan Geiger, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
14: New Jersey
Crime & Corrections: 5th
Economy: 24th
Education: 4th
Fiscal Stability: 48th
Health Care: 4th
Infrastructure: 16th
Natural Environment: 24th
Opportunity: 43rd
13: Virginia
Crime & Corrections: 11th
Economy: 16th
Education: 10th
Fiscal Stability: 24th
Health Care: 15th
Infrastructure: 38th
Natural Environment: 16th
Opportunity: 28th
Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
12: Wyoming
Apparently no where in the country is more fiscally stable than Wyoming.
Crime & Corrections: 27th
Economy: 37th
Education: 7th
Fiscal Stability: 1st
Health Care: 39th
Infrastructure: 13th
Natural Environment: 22nd
Opportunity: 4th
Greg Tally, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
11: South Dakota
Crime & Corrections: 37th
Economy: 13th
Education: 15th
Fiscal Stability: 16th
Health Care: 43rd
Infrastructure: 8th
Natural Environment: 4th
Opportunity: 11th
Hasselblad500CM, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
10: Massachusetts
5 in the top 8—no other state has that.
Crime & Corrections: 4th
Economy: 8th
Education: 3rd
Fiscal Stability: 39th
Health Care: 2nd
Infrastructure: 39rd
Natural Environment: 7th
Opportunity: 46th
9: Florida
Two number 1s...Well done Florida
Crime & Corrections: 13th
Economy: 1st
Education: 1st
Fiscal Stability: 20th
Health Care: 26th
Infrastructure: 20th
Natural Environment: 13th
Opportunity: 45th
Diego Delso, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
8: Washington
Crime & Corrections: 39th
Economy: 14th
Education: 13th
Fiscal Stability: 14th
Health Care: 10th
Infrastructure: 7th
Natural Environment: 11th
Opportunity: 37th
Ron Clausen, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
7: Vermont
In the "Land of Opportunity" Vermont looks to be the "State of Opportunity".
Crime & Corrections: 3rd
Economy: 20th
Education: 24th
Fiscal Stability: 35th
Health Care: 17th
Infrastructure: 11th
Natural Environment: 10th
Opportunity: 1st
Jared and Corin, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
6: Iowa
Crime & Corrections: 14th
Economy: 36th
Education: 11th
Fiscal Stability: 12th
Health Care: 21st
Infrastructure: 10th
Natural Environment: 15th
Opportunity: 3rd
5: Idaho
Crime & Corrections: 12th
Economy: 2nd
Education: 18th
Fiscal Stability: 9th
Health Care: 18th
Infrastructure: 15th
Natural Environment: 29th
Opportunity: 14th
Priscila Micaroni Lalli, CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons
4: Minnesota
Crime & Corrections: 22nd
Economy: 26th
Education: 17th
Fiscal Stability: 7th
Health Care: 16th
Infrastructure: 9th
Natural Environment: 2nd
Opportunity: 12th
Joe Passe, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
3: Nebraska
Crime & Corrections: 17th
Economy: 19th
Education: 14th
Fiscal Stability: 3rd
Health Care: 25th
Infrastructure: 4th
Natural Environment: 9th
Opportunity: 19th
w_lemay, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
2: New Hampshire
Crime & Corrections: 1st
Economy: 7th
Education: 9th
Fiscal Stability: 38th
Health Care: 13th
Infrastructure: 22nd
Natural Environment: 8th
Opportunity: 10th
1: Utah
Five in the top 10 and seven in the top 20. That's why Utah is number one on this list.
Crime & Corrections: 9th
Economy: 3rd
Education: 2nd
Fiscal Stability: 6th
Health Care: 14th
Infrastructure: 3rd
Natural Environment: 46th
Opportunity: 18th
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