Florida climbs to No. 6 in U.S. News Best States ranking, excels in economy, education
Editor's note: This story is available as a result of a content partnership between WFTV and the Orlando Business Journal.
Florida ranks as one of the best states in the nation for the third consecutive year, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2025 Best States ranking.
Florida climbed to No. 6 in the rankings, with top honors in economy and a second-place ranking in education — two categories that continue to drive growth and investment across the state.
Read: Orlando-bound flight declares emergency, diverts
The Sunshine State's overall jump from the No. 9 spot last year reflects its performance in higher education, workforce expansion and population growth, which are business development and policy planning indicators.
Click here to read the full story on the Orlando Business Journal's website.
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Yahoo
If You Live in One of the Richest States, Here's the Salary You Need To Take Home $100K
Americans who reside in states with a high cost of living often tend to be employed in high-paying roles to offset lifestyle expenses. If you want to take home $100,000 after taxes from a six-figure salary, you'd need to earn $130,999 on the low end in America's richest states — and as much as $146,521 in one surprising East Coast state. See More: Check Out: To determine the 10 richest states, GOBankingRates referred to existing research on how much the top 1% pay in taxes. A separate GOBankingRates study about the salary needed to take home $100,000 in each state was then utilized to determine each state's amount. In alphabetical order, this is how much salary is necessary to take home $100,000 in the 10 richest states. Salary needed for $100K: $144,879 Tax burden: 31.0% Find Out: For You: Salary needed for $100K: $139,008 Tax burden: 28.1% Be Aware: Salary needed for $100K: $141,600 Tax burden: 29.4% Salary needed for $100K: $144,939 Tax burden: 31.0% Salary needed for $100K: $146,521 Tax burden: 31.8% Explore Next: Salary needed for $100K: $140,643 Tax burden: 28.9% Salary needed for $100K: $130,999 Tax burden: 23.7% Salary needed for $100K: $140,929 Tax burden: 29.1% Trending Now: Salary needed for $100K: $139,681 Tax burden: 28.4% Salary needed for $100K: $130,999 Tax burden: 23.7% Methodology: To generate the income for what it takes to bring home a $100,000 salary by state, GOBankingRates surveyed income taxes at both the federal and state level (including FICA). Income tax estimates were created by using an in-house calculator for a person who was filing their taxes as a single person and using the standard deduction (with 2024 tax brackets). Once the three income taxes were calculated as an annual amount, GOBankingRates found each state's (4) total annual income taxes paid and (5) total income tax burden. All data was collected on and is up to date as of March 12, 2025. More From GOBankingRates The 10 Most Reliable SUVs of 2025 This article originally appeared on If You Live in One of the Richest States, Here's the Salary You Need To Take Home $100K Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
One of America's best small cities is in WA, says US News & World Report
Looking for the best place to live in Washington state? You might want to consider Sammamish, according to a new ranking from U.S. News and World Report. On June 4, the publication released its list of the 15 best small cities in the U.S. to live in this year. Sammamish took the No. 6 spot. This comes after U.S. News named Sammamish the No. 11 city to live in nationwide in late May. The King County city, located east of Bellevue, earned high marks from U.S. News for its job opportunities, which the publication attributes to its proximity to Seattle-area tech companies. It ranked No. 3 in the nation for its job market and its median household income of just over $235,000 a year was nearly triple the national rate, right around $80,000. Its proximity to nature and location on Lake Sammamish, meanwhile, helped the city place in the top 25 in the country for desirability and quality of life. There is a catch, though. As with much of Washington, Sammamish has a high cost of living. The median home price is $1,185,433, according to U.S. News, while the median monthly rent is $2,403. Sammamish was the only west coast city to make the list of the best small cities. Here's the rest of the top ten: Johns Creek, Georgia Apex, North Carolina Leander, Texas Rochester Hills, Michigan Troy, Michigan Sammamish, Washington Ellicott City, Maryland Flower Mound, Texas Pflugerville, Texas Plymouth, Minnesota While Sammamish was the only place in Washington on the list of the best small cities in the U.S., a few others made the list of the top 250 cities overall, with Seattle's eastern suburbs featuring heavily. Redmond was the next Washington city on the list at No. 83, followed by Bellevue at No. 126. Kirkland was the last Washington city to make the list at No. 133. According to U.S. News, each city is given a score across five categories: quality of life, value and affordability, desirability strength of the job market and net migration. Quality of life accounts for 26% of each city's score, and is determined by the quality of the area's schools, infrastructure, health care, economy and natural environment. The other categories account for between 23% and 25% of the total score, with the exception of net migration, which accounts for 2%.

Travel Weekly
2 days ago
- Travel Weekly
Advocacy efforts by ASTA, ACTA take the stage at AMG's confab
ORLANDO -- "How many of you have had trouble collecting hotel commissions?" ASTA president and CEO Zane Kerby asked a room full of advisors at American Marketing Group's Travel Market 2025 here -- and throughout the room, advisors vocalized their agreement. "It's a big problem," Kerby said, "and it's something ASTA has taken very, very seriously." ASTA two years ago published a list of suppliers who pay commissions within 30 days of an advisor remitting payment. While he didn't provide further details, Kerby said ASTA is gearing up to take on the suppliers who aren't on that list. "We're going to really start calling out those people who do not pay commissions on time, because that's a problem for the industry," he said to applause. "It's a problem for you; it's a problem for us." Kerby was part of an on-stage discussion about advocacy alongside Wendy Paradis, president of the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (ACTA). Kerby highlighted some of ASTA's other advocacy efforts of late, including its battle to repeal the rule requiring the merchant of record, in some cases agents, to refund airline passengers even if they don't possess the funds; a recently won tax battle in Nebraska; and a fight against a new 11% tax on bookings for cruises in Hawaiian waters. For Canadian agencies, a focus on tariffs In Canada, the No. 1 issue for travel agencies is the potential impact of tariffs implemented by the U.S., Paradis said. Right now, agencies are mostly in wait-and-see mode, but the implications of tariffs could be great. ACTA has done forecasting regarding tariffs and what would happen if they stayed in place, as is, for any length of time. For people to travel, they need to have jobs and disposable income, and if the tariffs sap jobs and income of Canadian advisors' clients, advisor business would be affected. "Should they stay in place, the impact on Ontario and Quebec, which are the largest travel industry provinces in Canada, is much worse than the pandemic," she said. But the effects would take "months and months to unfold," Paradis said. In the meantime, ACTA continues to advocate on behalf of Canada and the travel industry. Travel advisors working with an older clientele will likely fare better, she said: Baby Boomers are the largest group of travelers in Canada right now, and for the most part they are empty-nesters with paid-off mortgages. Millennials and Gen X travelers, by contrast, are likely less resilient.