The 5 best states in America right now, according to U.S. News‚ and the 5 worst
Do you think your state is better than the rest?
Each year, U.S. News and World Report sets out to pick the best and worst states in the U.S. And while it's not possible to really say which is the best of them all, the report tries to find a data-driven answer for those curious.
It looks at a series of factors across eight main categories: health, education, economy, infrastructure, opportunities, crime, fiscal stability, and the natural environment. This year, categories included hospital quality, housing affordability, industrial toxin exposure, college rankings, and income equality.
'The best state in America is home to a diverse and resilient economy, smart students, low crime, and a fairly healthy population,' U.S. News said.
It reported that another 'common factor shared by many of the top-ranked states is a strong performance in the education category – the highest-weighted category of the 2025 rankings based on new survey results showing what areas Americans believe their states should prioritize.'
States that found themselves at the bottom tended to have high crime and poor health care.
Want to know if your home state landed in the top or bottom? Continue reading to see which were ranked the highest and lowest.
5th Best: Nebraska
Photo: Mario Tama / Staff (Getty Images)
4th Best: Minnesota
Photo: Scott Olson / Staff (Getty Images)
3rd Best: Idaho
Photo: Christian Petersen / Staff (Getty Images)
2nd Best: New Hampshire
Photo: Darren McCollester / Stringer (Getty Images)
Best: Utah
Photo: George Frey / Stringer (Getty Images)
5th Worst: West Virginia
Photo: Spencer Platt / Staff (Getty Images)
4th Worst: New Mexico
Photo: Maddie Meyer / Staff (Getty Images)
3rd Worst: Mississippi
Photo: Joe Raedle / Staff (Getty Images)
2nd Worst: Alaska
Photo: John Moore / Staff (Getty Images)
Worst: Louisiana
Photo: Mario Tama / Staff (Getty Images)
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