For the third consecutive year, Utah has been named the “best state” in the United States.
The Beehive State ranked in the top 20 of all 50 states across eight categories, including measures for health care, education and the economy, according to findings U.S. News and World Report released Tuesday.
"Utah’s third straight No. 1 ranking is a reflection of the incredible people who make this state what it is,” Gov. Spencer Cox said in a statement. “It’s not just our economy or our beautiful outdoors — it’s the hardworking, service-minded people who continue to make Utah the best place to live, work and raise a family."
The report surveyed residents across the country three times between the winters of 2020 and 2025, asking how satisfied they felt with where they lived and what their state should prioritize. Using those findings, researchers weighted the responses and ranked states across the eight categories.
Though Utah ranked highest overall of all 50 states, it came in 48th in the environment category, "burdened by poor scores for industrial toxins and pollution health risk."
The top 10 overall best states after Utah include New Hampshire, Idaho, Minnesota, Nebraska, Florida, Vermont, South Dakota, Massachusetts and Washington, according to the survey.
Hawaii ranks highest in health care
The report ranked states across eight categories, but the three categories with the most weight were health care, education and economic success.
In the health care category, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Connecticut ranked the best. The report indicated that Hawaii “topped the list for metrics including health care affordability, mental health and low mortality rate.” It also received top marks for nursing home and hospital quality.
States in the Northeast were also highly ranked in the health care category.
The Southern states, on the other hand, fared the worst in this metric, making up seven of the 10 worst. “The Southern states perform particularly poorly on measures of public health, like age-adjusted death rate, smoking rate and obesity rate,” according to the report.
New Jersey and Florida rank highest in education
New Jersey, Florida and Wyoming ranked the highest in the education category, according to the survey’s findings.
While New Jersey led the way in pre-K-12 subcategories — including preschool enrollment, standardized test scores and high school graduation rate — Florida ranked the highest in the higher education subcategory.
Researchers said Florida’s “low amount for college tuition and fees and impressive two- and four-year program graduation rates” set it apart from other states.
More broadly, Western states performed better in higher education than pre-K-12, while Northeastern states exhibited the opposite trend. That’s driven at least in part by the hefty tuition fees to attend higher education in the Northeast, according to the report.