October 23, 2026 · New sources, an overall ranking, and search-friendly page names
Added eighteen rankings, fourteen of them from new federal sources: violent crime, property crime and murder rates (FBI, 2025); traffic deaths per mile driven (NHTSA and FHWA, 2023); life expectancy (CDC NCHS, 2022) and adult obesity (CDC BRFSS, 2025, with 2024 figures for the three states CDC could not report for 2025); GDP, GDP per capita and real GDP growth (BEA, 2025); land area, total area and population density (Census, 2026 boundaries); and average temperature and precipitation (NOAA, 1991–2020). New topics cover Safety and Geography & climate, and Health now includes outcomes. Also added the unemployment rate (BLS, September 2026), minimum wage and state sales tax rates in effect on October 23, 2026 (checked against federal and state sources), state tax collections per person (Census, fiscal 2025), and a ranking of the best states to retire. Published an overall ranking of the 50 states that combines ten measures with published weights and shows how much each rank depends on any single measure, and a guide to the states that border Canada and Mexico.
Added two rankings in a new Taxes topic: median property taxes paid, from ACS 2024 detailed table B25103, and the effective property tax rate, which divides that median by the median home value. Both include 2021–2024 history. The rate’s margins of error are approximations calculated from the margins of its two inputs. The catalog now contains 78 measures. Added a guide to the states with no income tax, checked against state sources on October 23, 2026.
Four rankings now use the names readers search for, with their earlier addresses redirected: cost of living (regional price parity), richest and poorest states (median household income), cheapest states to buy a house (median home value) and most and least educated states (bachelor’s degree attainment). Values for existing measures are unchanged. Current edition.
October 4, 2026 · Data expansion and audit corrections
Added six population component count/rate rankings, three BEA price-parity rankings, a same-year price-adjusted income ranking, and three experimental income-after-housing rankings calculated from ACS microdata. The catalog now contains 78 measures. Twelve ACS measures include 2021–2024 history; population components include 2021–2025 history and BEA price indexes include 2019–2024.
Fixed how tied highest and lowest states are described, labels for percentage-point differences, positive/negative bar charts, mobile layout, citation wording and which pages appear in search. Added uncertainty comparisons, a household distribution table, population accounting, immutable data editions, and edition-specific saved tool links. Original edition · Expanded edition.
October 2, 2026 · First edition
Published 42 measures from the 2024 ACS 1-year geographic comparison tables and three measures from Census Population Estimates Program Vintage 2025. The catalog covers all 50 states. DC and Puerto Rico are reference rows where available; they do not receive default state ranks.
Added 50 state report cards, complete CSV downloads, public dataset metadata, state comparisons, and a custom-weight tool for six selected ACS measures. The custom calculation uses published min-max normalization and shows each contribution. It is not our own overall “best states” ranking.
Population history on state report cards covers July 2020–July 2025 within Vintage 2025. No ACS historical comparisons or release-to-release rank changes are published in this edition.
Source dates in this edition
The 2024 ACS 1-year estimates were released September 11, 2025. The Vintage 2025 state population estimates were released January 27, 2026. October 2, 2026 is our publication date, not the reference year of either product.
The 2025 ACS 1-year release date was not confirmed on the Census updates page at the review date. We have not advanced the data labels or silently substituted a five-year product.
How future entries will work
A data update will identify the producer release, affected measures, reference period, and any change in definition or geographic coverage. A correction will explain the issue and its effect on ranks, values, and downloads. Source revisions and editorial corrections will be distinguished.
When a definition breaks comparability, charts will stop at the break instead of connecting incompatible observations. Data pages, report cards, maps, and downloads will be rebuilt from the same reviewed observations. Unavailable values will remain labeled as unavailable.
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