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Best and worst states to live in

New Hampshire ranks first in our overall ranking of the 50 states, with 83.0 points out of 100, and Louisiana ranks last, with 23.6. The score combines ten measures of money, safety, health, education, jobs, housing and commuting, each from a federal source.

“Best” depends on what matters to you, so every weight is published below. The ranking leaves out climate, taxes and personal preferences such as city or countryside. To weigh things your own way, use the custom ranking tool.

Data years: 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025Edition 2026-10-23How the score works

50 states; DC is excluded. A score compares states with each other; it is not advice about where to live.

Alabama: 36.2 · #44Alaska: 49.2 · #33Arizona: 46.7 · #38Colorado: 70.0 · #11Florida: 47.7 · #36Georgia: 47.5 · #37Indiana: 50.5 · #31Kansas: 57.8 · #27Maine: 64.6 · #19Massachusetts: 82.7 · #2Minnesota: 78.5 · #3New Jersey: 75.8 · #6North Carolina: 49.3 · #32North Dakota: 73.3 · #9Oklahoma: 33.5 · #45Pennsylvania: 58.9 · #23South Dakota: 66.9 · #18Texas: 43.6 · #39Wyoming: 61.2 · #21Connecticut: 76.4 · #5Missouri: 48.8 · #34West Virginia: 27.8 · #47Illinois: 60.7 · #22New Mexico: 27.5 · #48Arkansas: 28.9 · #46California: 58.5 · #25Delaware: 58.4 · #26Hawaii: 75.0 · #8Iowa: 68.6 · #14Kentucky: 36.8 · #42Maryland: 70.9 · #10Michigan: 48.7 · #35Mississippi: 25.8 · #49Montana: 57.3 · #28New Hampshire: 83.0 · #1New York: 57.1 · #29Ohio: 52.3 · #30Oregon: 58.7 · #24Tennessee: 36.5 · #43Utah: 77.5 · #4Virginia: 69.2 · #13Washington: 67.6 · #17Wisconsin: 68.4 · #16Nebraska: 69.6 · #12South Carolina: 40.8 · #41Idaho: 61.6 · #20Nevada: 43.2 · #40Vermont: 75.3 · #7Louisiana: 23.6 · #50Rhode Island: 68.5 · #15 AlaskaHawaii

Select a state to read its value here.

23.683.0

Darker = higher value · 50 states · Alaska & Hawaii repositioned

The 10 best states to live in

  1. New Hampshire: 83.0 points
  2. Massachusetts: 82.7 points
  3. Minnesota: 78.5 points
  4. Utah: 77.5 points
  5. Connecticut: 76.4 points
  6. New Jersey: 75.8 points
  7. Vermont: 75.3 points
  8. Hawaii: 75.0 points
  9. North Dakota: 73.3 points
  10. Maryland: 70.9 points

The 10 worst states to live in

  1. Louisiana: 23.6 points
  2. Mississippi: 25.8 points
  3. New Mexico: 27.5 points
  4. West Virginia: 27.8 points
  5. Arkansas: 28.9 points
  6. Oklahoma: 33.5 points
  7. Alabama: 36.2 points
  8. Tennessee: 36.5 points
  9. Kentucky: 36.8 points
  10. South Carolina: 40.8 points

All 50 states ranked

Score out of 100. Rank range: the highest and lowest rank the state reaches when any one of the ten measures is left out.
RankStateScoreRank rangeStrongest pointWeakest point
1New Hampshire83.0#1–2Low povertyLong commutes
2Massachusetts82.7#1–3High income for local pricesLong commutes
3Minnesota78.5#2–6High employmentHigh rent burden
4Utah77.5#3–8High income for local pricesHigh rent burden
5Connecticut76.4#4–10Low violent crimeHigh rent burden
6New Jersey75.8#3–9Long life expectancyLong commutes
7Vermont75.3#4–9Few uninsuredHigh rent burden
8Hawaii75.0#5–10Long life expectancyHigh rent burden
9North Dakota73.3#6–11Affordable rentsFew college graduates
10Maryland70.9#9–18High income for local pricesLong commutes
11Colorado70.0#7–18Many college graduatesHigh rent burden
12Nebraska69.6#11–15High employmentFew college graduates
13Virginia69.2#10–17Low violent crimeLong commutes
14Iowa68.6#10–17High employmentFew college graduates
15Rhode Island68.5#10–19Low violent crimeHigh rent burden
16Wisconsin68.4#12–18High employmentFew college graduates
17Washington67.6#12–19Long life expectancyDeadly roads
18South Dakota66.9#13–19High employmentDeadly roads
19Maine64.6#14–22Low violent crimeLow income for local prices
20Idaho61.6#20–24Low violent crimeDeadly roads
21Wyoming61.2#19–29Low violent crimeDeadly roads
22Illinois60.7#20–24Low violent crimeLong commutes
23Pennsylvania58.9#22–30Low violent crimeLow income for local prices
24Oregon58.7#23–28Few uninsuredDeadly roads
25California58.5#19–29Long life expectancyHigh rent burden
26Delaware58.4#22–28Low povertyDeadly roads
27Kansas57.8#20–29Short commutesHigh violent crime
28Montana57.3#21–29Short commutesDeadly roads
29New York57.1#23–32Long life expectancyLong commutes
30Ohio52.3#28–31Few uninsuredLow income for local prices
31Indiana50.5#30–35Low violent crimeFew college graduates
32North Carolina49.3#32–36Low violent crimeLow income for local prices
33Alaska49.2#26–38Short commutesHigh violent crime
34Missouri48.8#31–37Affordable rentsLow income for local prices
35Michigan48.7#32–39Few uninsuredLow income for local prices
36Florida47.7#32–38Low violent crimeHigh rent burden
37Georgia47.5#32–38Low violent crimeLong commutes
38Arizona46.7#34–38Low povertyDeadly roads
39Texas43.6#34–42Long life expectancyMany uninsured
40Nevada43.2#39–40Low povertyHigh rent burden
41South Carolina40.8#39–41Few uninsuredDeadly roads
42Kentucky36.8#41–46Low violent crimeDeadly roads
43Tennessee36.5#42–44Few uninsuredDeadly roads
44Alabama36.2#43–44Affordable rentsLow employment
45Oklahoma33.5#44–45Affordable rentsDeadly roads
46Arkansas28.9#46–47Affordable rentsLow income for local prices
47West Virginia27.8#46–49Few uninsuredLow employment
48New Mexico27.5#45–49Short commutesLow employment
49Mississippi25.8#48–50Low violent crimeDeadly roads
50Louisiana23.6#48–50Few uninsuredHigh poverty

How the score works

Each measure is rescaled from 0 to 100 across the 50 states: the best state on that measure gets 100 and the worst gets 0. The overall score is the weighted average of those ten scores, so a state that led on every measure would score 100.

MeasureWeightBetter whenYear and source
Price-adjusted median household income15Higher2024 · Census + BEA
Poverty rate10Lower2024 · Census ACS
Violent crime rate15Lower2025 · FBI UCR
Traffic death rate5Lower2023 · NHTSA + FHWA
Life expectancy15Higher2022 · CDC NCHS
Uninsured rate10Lower2024 · Census ACS
Bachelor’s degree attainment10Higher2024 · Census ACS
Employment-to-population ratio, ages 16–6410Higher2024 · Census ACS
Renter housing cost burden5Lower2024 · Census ACS
Average commute time5Lower2024 · Census ACS

Price-adjusted income stands in for both income and the cost of living, because it divides household income by the state’s price level. Violent crime and life expectancy carry the most weight because they describe safety and health directly.

How stable is each rank?

A composite depends on its choices. To show how much, we recalculated the ranking ten times, leaving out one measure each time. The rank range in the table shows the best and worst result for each state. For 10 of the 50 states, the rank moves by two places or fewer, so their position does not hinge on any single measure. A wide range means one measure matters a lot for that state.

What the ranking leaves out

Climate, taxes, scenery and culture matter to many people but have no single “better” direction, so they are not scored. The measures also come from different years, from 2022 for life expectancy to 2025 for crime, because each agency publishes on its own schedule. Survey margins of error are not carried into the score, so states a few points apart may not differ meaningfully.

We publish this ranking once per data edition and record any change to the weights in the publication log.

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