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Best States to Live In (2026)
Hunter ranked all 50 states (plus D.C.) using 27 real metrics across 6 categories: Affordability, Economy, Education, Environment, Health, and Safety. I ranked each state's percentile score in each of the 27 metrics within each of the 6 categories, took the percentile mean within each category's individual metrics, and took the average of the resulting 6 scores to be ranked from best to worst.
Table
State Score # AF EC ED EN HE SA
Wyoming 84.68% 1 5 4 3 1 17 7
New Hampshire 83.47% 2 20 3 12 3 2 2
South Dakota 79.89% 3 1 2 6 7 26 24
North Dakota 73.06% 4 2 21 5 16 16 25
Idaho 69.86% 5 19 9 20 10 14 3
Utah 69.56% 6 17 31 4 20 7 16
Maine 69.13% 7 26 15 23 5 23 1
Massachusetts 68.96% 8 47 18 2 19 6 12
Florida 68.78% 9 44 1 10 46 12 6
Nebraska 67.67% 10 4 26 17 14 22 21
Montana 66.18% 11 16 14 8 12 21 37
Connecticut 64.84% 12 41 17 27 17 5 5
Rhode Island 64.71% 13 39 20 36 2 9 4
Minnesota 64.50% 14 15 37 9 32 4 23
Virginia 63.06% 15 33 12 32 22 11 17
Iowa 62.34% 16 3 41 21 25 25 14
Wisconsin 61.63% 17 9 36 16 31 20 10
Colorado 61.32% 18 35 30 7 21 3 48
New Jersey 59.99% 19 46 29 15 33 1 11
Vermont 59.50% 20 21 48 30 4 15 20
Maryland 58.56% 21 38 40 13 13 10 39
North Carolina 57.37% 22 31 5 22 38 35 30
Indiana 56.17% 23 10 24 28 34 41 13
Kansas 55.89% 24 6 34 18 27 28 45
Pennsylvania 55.84% 25 29 38 11 47 24 19
Delaware 55.75% 26 34 16 35 15 27 33
Hawaii 54.18% 27 49 46 19 6 8 22
Georgia 53.54% 28 28 19 29 42 39 18
Washington 53.23% 29 45 11 14 49 13 35
Missouri 52.65% 30 7 25 26 36 38 40
Ohio 51.73% 31 12 42 25 41 40 26
South Carolina 51.43% 32 25 7 39 30 42 36
Tennessee 49.58% 33 22 8 31 35 43 44
Illinois 48.99% 34 36 39 33 48 19 27
Alaska 47.51% 35 37 22 34 8 29 50
Arizona 47.21% 36 40 10 44 44 30 32
Kentucky 47.01% 37 24 28 38 29 48 15
Nevada 46.32% 38 42 13 42 24 37 46
Texas 46.25% 39 27 6 40 50 31 38
Michigan 46.09% 40 32 27 48 39 32 31
Mississippi 44.41% 41 13 43 37 23 51 8
Alabama 43.66% 42 11 35 46 28 47 28
Oklahoma 42.94% 43 8 23 43 45 44 43
West Virginia 42.24% 44 14 45 49 18 50 9
District of Columbia 40.88% 45 50 47 1 11 34 51
Arkansas 40.54% 46 18 32 47 26 46 47
Oregon 40.07% 47 43 33 41 37 36 41
New York 39.27% 48 48 50 24 43 33 34
Louisiana 37.49% 49 23 44 45 40 49 29
New Mexico 33.11% 50 30 49 50 9 45 49
California 21.48% 51 51 51 51 51 18 42
Legend
AF: Affordability: Median Household Income, Cost of Living, Price Parity, Housing Affordability, Rent Affordability, Homeownership Rate, Employment Rate, Unemployment Rate (8 categories, 2.08 possible score per category)
EC: Economy: Per Capita Personal Income, GDP Per Capita, Domestic Migration, International Migration, Tax Burden (5 categories, 3.33 possible score per category)
ED: Education: NAEP Scores (4th), Educational Attainment (% High School or higher), College Tuition Rates, Educational Attainment (% Bachelor's or higher) (4 categories, 4.17 possible score per category)
EN: Environment: Natural Disaster Risk, Natural Disaster Count, Air Quality (3 categories, 5.55 possible score per category)
HE: Health: Life Expectancy, Human Development Index, Poverty Rate, Obesity Rate, Homeless (5 categories, 3.33 possible score per category)
SA: Safety: Violent Crime Rate, Property Crime Rate (2 categories, 8.33 possible score per category)
Score: Maximum score possible: 100 points (27 categories)
Sources
Median Household Income (Census ACS)
Cost of Living (MERIC)
Price Parity (BEA)
Housing Affordability (C2ER, Census, Zillow)
Rent Affordability (ACS)
Homeownership Rate (ACS)
Employment Rate (Disability Statistics)
Unemployment Rate (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Violent Crime Rate (FBI Crime Data Explorer)
Property Crime Rate (FBI Crime Data Explorer)
NAEP Scores (4th) (NAEP)
Educational Attainment (% High School or higher) (Census ACS)
College Tuition Rates (EDI)
Educational Attainment (% Bachelor's or higher) (Census ACS)
Life Expectancy (CDC)
Human Development Index (CDC)
Poverty Rate (Census ACS)
Obesity Rate (CDC)
Homeless (HUD)
Natural Disaster Risk (FEMA)
Natural Disaster Count (FEMA)
Air Quality (CDC)
Per Capita Personal Income (Bureau of Economic Analysis)
GDP Per Capita (Bureau of Economic Analysis)
Domestic Migration (Census)
International Migration (Census)
Tax Burden (Tax Foundation)
(Something is to be said about the LEAST populated state being the BEST, and the MOST populated state being the WORST! )
XD
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