Ohio continues to rank terribly among the states, from the economy to health care
The Ohio Statehouse. (Photo by David DeWitt, Ohio Capital Journal.)
Ohio continues to rank terribly in nearly every way possible, according to the latest state rankings from the U.S. News & World Report.
The Buckeye State slid two more spots in the report's latest rankings of the 50 states, moving from No. 36 in the 2023 report to No. 38 in the latest iteration.
In addition to ranking No. 38 overall, Ohio also ranks No. 41 in natural environment, No. 41 in higher education, No. 39 in economy, No. 34 in health care, No. 30 in crime and corrections, No. 30 in education overall, No. 30 in infrastructure, and No. 25 in fiscal stability.
On only one metric, opportunity, does Ohio crack the top half of states, at No. 17.
The U.S. News & World Report has been ranking the states since 2017, and Ohio has bounced around the bottom states in America that entire time.
In 2017, we were No. 35. In 2018, we dropped to No. 40. The year of 2019 saw us roaring back to No. 39. After no rankings in 2020, we came in at No. 36 in 2021 and climbed mightily to No. 34 by 2023 before dropping back down to No. 36 last year and now No. 38 this year.
Before anyone starts howling with indignation about how horribly unfair and biased the U.S. News & World Report must be, I'll note that the No. 1 ranked state for three years running is Utah — not exactly a bastion of crunchy liberal thinking.
So no, these aren't politicized rankings: Ohio's elected leaders fully earned this pathetic spot for our state via their poisonous politics and terrible policies and priorities.
Ohio politicians don't need to worry though. Ohio voters seem determined to give them all endless free passes to do whatever they want no matter how atrocious the outcomes or rampant the corruption.
I assume their cushy careers will all be fine no matter how terribly Ohio does by every available metric, as long as they put the right party label next to their name on the ballot given whatever their geographic location. Actions don't matter. Outcomes don't matter. Rampant corruption doesn't matter. Only partisan politics matters. Right?
Let's take a look at some of those outcomes.
On the issue of crime, for corrections outcomes, Ohio ranks No. 46. On public safety, No. 22. Our incarceration and juvenile incarceration rates are both above the national average, but the violent crime rate is below the national average.
On the economy, we rank No. 30 for business environment, No. 43 for employment, and No. 36 for growth. Our venture capital investment, migration from other states, and job growth numbers all fall below the national average.
In education, our pre-K-12 ranks No. 15, while higher education ranks No. 41. Our student debt at graduation is higher than the national average, but so is our high school graduation rate and math scores.
Back in 2010, Ohio was ranked by Education Week as having the 5th best public school system in the nation. We've fallen far, and state lawmakers are looking at abandoning the Fair School Funding Plan, so who knows what that will do. School districts are already struggling mightily, with Akron for instance looking at $44 million worth of cuts. Being No. 15 in K-12 right now isn't a point of pride or reason for optimism.
On fiscal stability, Ohio's long-term outlook ranks No. 16, most likely because we have around $3.7 billion sitting in our rainy day fund. The short-term outlook isn't so hot though, ranking No. 40 among the states, with our liquidity still well below the national average.
Health care is all pretty terrible for Ohio. We rank No. 40 in public health, No. 36 in health care access, and No. 28 in health care quality. Access to health care is set to take an enormous tumble if President Trump and Republicans in Congress pass the enormous Medicaid cuts they want.
More than 1 in 4 Ohioans rely on Medicaid – including 40% of children, 20% of working-age adults, and 10% of seniors. Hundreds of thousands of Ohioans stand to lose their health insurance under the Trump Republican cuts. Right now about 8.4% of Ohioans don't have health insurance. That number is poised to skyrocket under the Trump plan. Again though, please rest assured, in case you were worried, the wealthy and well-connected will continue to do fabulously well.
In infrastructure, at No. 30 overall, Ohio ranks No. 15 in transportation, but comes in at No. 30 for internet access, and No. 32 for energy.
On natural environment, we rank No. 24 on air and water quality, but No. 45 for pollution.
As far as opportunity, Ohio is affordable, ranking No. 16. However, things get worse when it comes to equality, ranking No. 21. They fall off a cliff when it comes to economic opportunity, ranking at No. 38.
These rankings don't capture some other things of note. For instance, 1.8 million Ohioans are food insecure. That's out of a population of 11.88 million, which means more than 15% of our population is regularly going hungry. Data from Feeding America shows 1 in 5 Ohio children live in homes that are food insecure. Ohio is also among the top eight states for worst infant mortality.
Taken all-in-all, while there might not be much opportunity to improve your lot in Ohio, at least it's a vaguely affordable place to stagnate in poverty.
We might have a lot of infant deaths, low incomes, hungry children and families, a lack of health care access, poor public health outcomes, horrible pollution, pathetic corrections, a bad employment situation, a bad energy situation, dim prospects for growth, worsening higher education, and disinvestment from public schools, but at least we have… middling prospects for long-term fiscal stability.
Congratulations, Ohio. We're No. 38. We're No. 38.
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