All articles tagged with #state rankings
WalletHub's 2026 study ranks all 50 states for retirement using 46 metrics across affordability, quality of life, and healthcare. Wyoming narrowly leads, followed by Florida and South Dakota, while Kentucky sits at the bottom. The ranking highlights factors like taxes, cost of living, elder protections, crime, and healthcare access.
A CDC state-by-state map shows nearly an eight-year gap in male life expectancy, from about 77.4 years in Massachusetts to around 69.5 years in Mississippi and West Virginia. The South dominates the lower end of the rankings, while some Northeast/Western states rank highest. Nationally, male life expectancy was about 76.5 years in 2024 (women ~81.4). Multiple factors—healthcare access, socioeconomic conditions, smoking, chronic disease—contribute, and no single habit guarantees extra years; guidelines still call for about 150 minutes of moderate activity per week plus strength training.
US News' 2026 state rankings place Michigan in the bottom five overall, scoring best only in healthcare (24th) while posting very low marks in education (45th), economy (43rd), infrastructure (42nd) and middling scores in fiscal stability, opportunity, crime and corrections, and natural environment; Utah leads the list.
CNBC’s 2026 quality-of-life ranking lists Arkansas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Missouri, Utah, Georgia, Louisiana, Indiana, Texas and Tennessee as the bottom 10 states to live in, all Republican-led, prompting critics to allege liberal bias in the criteria despite ongoing population growth in several of those states. The ranking factors include crime, air quality, healthcare, childcare, inclusiveness, and reproductive rights, with some commentators arguing the metrics unfairly penalize conservative policy environments.
CNBC's 2026 Top States for Business, now in its 20th year, ranks all 50 states using 138 metrics across 10 categories. Infrastructure is the top-weighted factor and permitting ease is counted for the first time, with the economy sliding to second and workforce remaining key. Ohio leads, followed by North Carolina and Virginia, with Texas and Minnesota rounding out the top five, reflecting shifts in how states balance infrastructure, economy, and workforce to attract investment.
A Voronoi visualization ranks projected summer electricity bills by state using NEADA estimates based on EIA prices and NOAA forecasts. Arizona leads at about $1,060 (June–September), Connecticut around $994, and Texas about $936, with the U.S. average at $792 and Washington and North Dakota near $488. Rising electricity prices and hotter summers are driving cooling costs higher, and roughly one in six households is behind on utility bills, with total utility debt projected to $23 billion this year.
A study by Oxford and the University of Kentucky shows ChatGPT can stereotype U.S. states when forced to choose between pairs, ranking Massachusetts as the smartest, Louisiana as the smelliest, and Mississippi and Kentucky among the least favorable, with broader biases tied to training data and societal narratives. OpenAI says newer models and prompts mitigate these issues, but researchers warn such biases can still influence real‑world perceptions and decisions.
The U-Haul Growth Index reveals Americans are moving away from high-tax states like California and New York towards low-tax states such as Texas and Florida, with a strong correlation between lower personal income tax rates and higher migration. The index also highlights that most top-performing states have Right-to-Work laws, while the bottom states do not, emphasizing the impact of tax and labor policies on migration patterns.
A 2025 report by Mental Health America ranks New York, Hawaii, and New Jersey as the top states for mental health, while Nevada, Arizona, and Alabama rank lowest, highlighting ongoing disparities and the need for increased investment and policy changes to improve mental health services across the US.
A study using PIAAC data reveals that New Hampshire and Minnesota have the highest adult literacy rates in the U.S., while New Mexico, Louisiana, and Mississippi have the lowest. Overall, adult literacy levels are declining nationally, with an increase in adults with low literacy skills and a decrease in those with high literacy, highlighting the need for expanded adult education programs.
The doxo 2025 Cost of Bills Index reveals California as the most expensive U.S. state for household bills, averaging $2,854 monthly, while West Virginia is the least expensive at $1,149, highlighting significant regional disparities in living costs across the country.
The 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championship qualifiers have been announced, with Pennsylvania leading the way with 43 qualifiers, followed by Ohio with 28 and New Jersey with 26. The article also provides a breakdown of qualifiers by state, per capita, and per high school participant, as well as a list of wrestlers and their hometowns. Additionally, it includes information on international qualifiers and an interactive heat map.
SmartAsset ranked U.S. states (excluding Florida) based on eight health variables for people aged 65 and older, with New Hampshire coming out on top for senior health, while Louisiana ranked last. Factors considered included obesity, smoking, arthritis, mental distress, cognitive decline, disability status, and leisure-time activity. The study found that New Hampshire, Hawaii, and Vermont have the healthiest seniors, while states in the South generally ranked lower for senior health.
A GOBankingRates study using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Missouri Economic Research and Information Center data reveals that $1 million in retirement savings will last the longest in states like Mississippi and Oklahoma, over 21 years, while it will deplete much faster, around 10 to 15 years, in high-cost states such as Hawaii, New York, and California. The study highlights significant differences in living expenses, particularly housing costs, across the states. Fidelity suggests that the ideal retirement savings should be based on multiples of one's annual salary by certain ages, rather than a fixed dollar amount, to account for varying costs of living in different regions.
Virginia ranks first in defense spending, followed by Texas and California. Arizona replaced Washington in the top 10 states where the Pentagon spends the most on defense. However, if rankings were based on dollars spent relative to a state's gross domestic product, Virginia, Hawaii, and Connecticut would be the top three. The fiscal 2022 report tracks defense spending across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, totaling the amount of money spent per state on defense contracts and personnel.