U.S. News & World Report ranked the best states in US. Here's where Rhode Island landed
Rhode Islanders might have a thing or two to say about this.
U.S. News and World Report released it's annual ranking for best states in country, and Rhode Island didn't make the top 10 like three New England states did, or even the top 20. But, the little state did improve two rankings over last year coming in at No. 24.
The Best States rankings look at eight categories: health care, education, natural environment, opportunity, economy, crime and corrections, infrastructure, and fiscal stability. They look at three years of data. A total of 71 metrics are used, according to the publication.
Those factors are then weighted going into the final scoring. Healthcare and education, for example, account for about 15% of the total score while natural environment accounts for 9%.
The three New England states in the top 10 were New Hampshire at No. 2, Vermont at No. 7 and Massachusetts at No. 9.
Here's a look at Rhode Island's rankings.
Here's the quick look at how Rhode Island ranked in each category:
Crime & Corrections No. 6
Economy No. 16
Education No. 38
Fiscal Stability No. 45
Health Care No. 4
Infrastructure No. 45
Natural Environment No. 8
Opportunity No. 24
Compared to last year, the state improved it's ranking in health care (No. 5 in 2024), opportunity (No. 33 in 2024) and fiscal stability (No. 47 in 2024). But the state lost ground in other categories, falling one place in crime and correction, two places in economy, two places in education, falling five places in natural environment from No. 3 to No. 8.
According to U.S. News and World Report, Utah is the best state in the country for the third year in a row.
It earned top 10 marks in five categories: fiscal stability, economy, infrastructure, education and crime and corrections.
The report said that Utah's economy has become one of the most diverse in the U.S., giving it great strength in the fiscal-related categories.
"In the last two and a half decades, Utah's economy has outperformed the nation, had greater strength, and when we've had downturns, we have been able to rebound much more quickly in our state,' said Natalie Gochnour, director of the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah.
Utah
New Hampshire
Idaho
Minnesota
Nebraska
Florida
Vermont
South Dakota
Massachusetts
Washington
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: How does RI compare to other states? See U.S. News & World Report rank
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