We’re Number One – Washington Tops New “Best State” List

What's the best state?  It depends on what you measure and who you ask but a new survey comparing eight categories gives the nod to us -Washington state.

U.S. News & World Report looked at health care, education, economy, infrastructure, opportunity, fiscal stability, crime, and natural environment and despite not coming out first in any one of those categories, the collective score was 49 point totals better than last place Louisiana!

Top Ten and Bottom Ten States

1. Washington state
2. New Hampshire
3. Minnesota
4. Utah
5. Vermont
6. Maryland
7. Virginia
8. Massachusetts
9. Nebraska
10. Colorado

41. South Carolina
42. Oklahoma
43. Alaska
44. Arkansas
45. New Mexico
46. West Virginia
47. Mississippi
48. Alabama
49. Louisiana

Not all factors are equal in the minds of citizens and so more weight was given to certain categories.  " Health care and education were weighted most heavily. Then came state economies, infrastructure, and the opportunity states offer their citizens. Fiscal stability followed closely in weighting, followed by measures of crime & corrections and a state's natural environment."