Health
rankings by state.
Life expectancy, adult obesity and health insurance coverage. Outcomes and coverage answer different questions about health.
State distributions: each mark is one state, from lowest to highest. Each row uses its own scale.
Uninsured rate
2024 · Census ACS
Uninsured children
2024 · Census ACS
Life expectancy by state
2022 · CDC NCHS
Obesity rate by state
2025 (2024 for three states) · CDC BRFSS
Outcomes and coverage are different health questions
Life expectancy summarizes death rates at every age in one year; it is the broadest outcome measure available for all states, but it reflects accidents and overdoses as well as disease. The adult obesity rate comes from a telephone survey in which adults report their own height and weight. The uninsured rates describe lack of health insurance, which affects access to care but is not itself a health outcome. The three measures use different years because each producer publishes on its own schedule.
Read each measure’s year before comparing them: life expectancy describes 2022, the latest state life tables; obesity describes 2025, with 2024 figures for the three states CDC could not report for 2025; and coverage describes 2024. A state can rank well on one and poorly on another. The margins of error describe sampling or random variation, not errors in individual records. These pages do not provide a composite health grade.
Choose the measure that answers your question
| Measure | What it counts | Period and source |
|---|---|---|
| Uninsured rate | People without health insurance in the civilian noninstitutionalized population. | 2024 · Census ACS |
| Uninsured children | Children under 19 without health insurance in the civilian noninstitutionalized population. | 2024 · Census ACS |
| Life expectancy | Life expectancy at birth in 2022: the average number of years a baby born that year would live if death rates at each age stayed as they were in 2022. | 2022 · CDC NCHS |
| Adult obesity rate | Adults age 18 and older with obesity (a body mass index of 30 or more), as a percentage of all adults, based on the height and weight they report in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey. | 2025 (2024 for three states) · CDC BRFSS |
The linked pages retain exact source precision for ranks, show true ties, and display uncertainty where it is available. The comparison tool lets you inspect selected states without changing their rank among the full 50-state universe. Shared comparisons preserve their data edition.
Each ranking covers all 50 states using a consistent source release. DC and Puerto Rico are labeled reference jurisdictions. Compare point estimates alongside margins of error; a rank is not a judgment about a state or its residents.