Rhode Island placed in bottom half of US News’ overall states ranking

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Rhode Island placed in bottom half of US News’ overall states ranking

Bailey AllenGreta CrossUSA TODAY NETWORK – New England
July 31, 2026, 5:07 a.m. ET

A new study ranking all 50 U.S. states from best to worst placed Rhode Island in the bottom half

U.S. News & World Report published its Overall Best State Rankings list for 2026 this week. Each state was analyzed in eight categories: education, health care, economy, infrastructure, opportunity, fiscal stability, natural environment, and crime and corrections

Rhode Island – the smallest U.S. state – earned high marks for healthcare access, healthcare quality and public health, the publication noted. The state also scored well for air and water quality. However, it ranked lower for transportation and long-term fiscal stability

This year, the top five best states overall were Utah, South Dakota, Minnesota, North Dakota and Nebraska. The bottom five were Arkansas, Michigan, New Mexico, Mississippi, Alaska and Louisiana

Here’s where Rhode Island ranked on the list

Rhode Island ranks No. 33 overall, per US News & World Report

Rhode Island was ranked as the 33rd-best overall state by U.S. News & World Report

The Ocean State ranked No. 4 for healthcare, No. 8 for natural environment, No. 9 for crime and corrections, No. 31 for economy, No. 36 for opportunity, No. 46 for fiscal stability, and No. 47 for infrastructure

Rhode Island – one of the 13 original colonies – spans just 1,545 square miles and has a population of 1.11 million The state has a gross domestic product of $84.0 billion, a median household income of $83,504 and 47.0% of residents have a college education

Its major industries include biomedicine, defense shipbuilding, and maritime products and manufacturing, the publication said

Which state ranks No. 1?

U.S. News & World Report ranked Utah as the best overall state. The state ranked No. 2 for economy and fiscal stability, No. 4 for infrastructure, No. 6 for education, No. 7 for crime and corrections, No. 18 for health care, No. 24 for opportunity and No. 48 for natural environment

Utah, first named “Deseret” by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who settled in the area in the mid-1800s, spans 84,898 square miles and has a population of 3.5 million, the publication said. The state has a gross domestic product of $316.0 billion, a median household income of $96,658 and 49.1% of residents have a college education

Which state ranks No. 50?

Louisiana ranked No. 50. The state ranked No. 43 for fiscal stability, No. 45 for health care and opportunity, No. 46 for infrastructure and education, No. 49 for economy and natural environment and No. 50 for crime and corrections

The state, named in honor of King Louis XIV, spans 52,375 square miles and has a population of 4.6 million The state has a gross domestic product of $340.1 billion, a median household income of $60,986, and 35.3% of residents are college-educated

How are each of the 50 U.S. states ranked?

Here’s how U.S. News & World Report ranked each of the 50 U.S. states this year:

1. Utah
2. South Dakota
3. Minnesota
4. North Dakota
5. Nebraska
6. New Hampshire
7. Idaho
8. Florida
9. Washington
10. Vermont
11. Massachusetts
12. Iowa
13. North Carolina
14. Delaware
15. Wisconsin
16. Wyoming
17. Colorado
18. Connecticut
19. Virginia
20. New Jersey
21. Maryland
22. Georgia
23. New York
24. Kansas
25. Tennessee
26. Texas
27. Maine
28. Hawaii
29. Montana
30. Indiana
31. Missouri
32. South Carolina
33. Rhode Island
34. Arizona
35. California
36. Oklahoma
37. Illinois
38. Nevada
39. Oregon
40. Pennsylvania
41. Kentucky
42. Ohio
43. Alabama
44. West Virgina
45. Arkansas
46. Michigan
47. New Mexico
48. Mississippi
49. Alaska
50. Louisiana

How were the rankings determined?

To determine the rankings, US News analyzed 71 metrics across eight categories – education, health care, economy, infrastructure, opportunity, fiscal stability, natural environment, and crime and corrections

Some categories were weighted more than others. For example, health care and education were weighted more than crime and corrections and natural environment. Within the categories, each state was given points out of 100, with the best state given 100 points and the worst given zero

In addition to these point-based ratings, U.S. News surveyed people across the country on how satisfied they were with their state’s performance in the categories. Between 2018 and 2025, U.S. News surveyed more than 56,000 people across the United States

Here’s a closer look at how the categories were analyzed News & World Report:

• Education: Two-year and four-year college graduation rates, educational attainment, low college debt, low college tuition and fees, college readiness, high school graduation rate, National Assessment of Educational Progress math and reading scores, and preschool enrollment.
• Health care: Health insurance enrollment, child wellness and dental visits, adult wellness and dental visits, health care affordability, low preventable hospital admission rates, Medicare quality, nursing home and hospital qualities, low infant mortality rate, low mortality rate, low obesity and smoking rates, mental health, and low suicide rate.
• Economy: Business creation rate, top company headquarters, patent creation rate, low tax burden, venture capital invested, job growth, labor force participation, low unemployment rate, net migration, Gross Domestic Product growth, and young population growth.
• Infrastructure: Electricity prices, power grid reliability, renewable energy usage, internet subscription rate and access to gigabit internet, bridge and road qualities, commute times, and public transit usage.
• Opportunity: Cost of living, housing affordability, low food insecurity and poverty rate, income dispersion, household income, and education, unemployment and labor force participation gap by race, gender, and disability status.
• Fiscal stability: Government credit rating, pension fund liability, liquidity, and budget balancing.
• Natural environment: Drinking water and air qualities, low industrial toxins, and low pollution health risk.
• Crime and corrections: Jailing equality, low juvenile incarceration, low incarceration rate, low property and violent crime rates.