Iowa climbs 2 spots on best states list. How did it rank in 2026?

IOWA

Iowa climbs 2 spots on best states list. How did it rank in 2026?

Lucia ChengAhmed JawadiDes Moines Register
Aug. 6, 2026, 6:29 a.m. CT

U.S. News & World Report has ranked Iowa number 12 out of all 50 states in the country

The 2026 Overall Best State Rankings evaluated all 50 states across eight categories, including education, health care, economy, infrastructure, opportunity, fiscal stability, natural environment and crime & corrections

Each category is weighted differently from the others, but the report doesn’t just take into account how each state scores on metrics. It also included the responses of more than 56,000 people across the United States on how satisfied they were with their state’s performance

Iowa climbed two spots from 2025, when it ranked 14th. Iowa was ranked sixth in 2024

Looks like Iowa’s got some visibility

In what categories did U.S. News & World Report rank Iowa highly for?

U.S. News gave Iowa 12th place for the state’s high scores across the eight categories. Its website also notes that Iowa is a “relatively small state that has played a disproportionately large role in American politics” due to the Iowa Caucuses

Here’s the breakdown of Iowa’s scores:

• Crime & Corrections: No. 12
• Economy: No. 39
• Education: No. 19
• Fiscal Stability: No. 9
• Healthcare: No. 23
• Infrastructure: No. 15
• Natural Environment: No. 24
• Opportunity: No. 2

What are the top 10 U.S. states for 2026?

Overall, U.S. News gave high marks to multiple states in the Midwest due to improvements in their economy, health care and natural environment scores:

1. Utah
2. South Dakota
3. Minnesota
4. North Dakota
5. Nebraska
6. New Hampshire
7. Idaho
8. Florida
9. Washington
10. Vermont

What are the 10 worst U.S. states for 2026?

The back of the pack is dragged down by “inertia,” which highlights “how systemic challenges can impede progress in the categories citizens care most about,” the U.S. News website states

While almost every state excels in at least one area, Louisiana is the only state with a bottom-10 ranking in every category. 

1. Louisiana
2. Alaska
3. Mississippi
4. New Mexico
5. Michigan
6. Arkansas
7. West Virginia
8. Alabama
9. Ohio
10. Kentucky

How were the rankings determined?

In determining the rankings, U.S. News analyzed 71 metrics across eight categories – education, health care, economy, infrastructure, opportunity, fiscal stability, natural environment and crime & corrections

Some categories were weighted more than others. For example, health care and education were weighted more than crime & 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:

• 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 & corrections: Jailing equality, low juvenile incarceration, low incarceration rate, low property and violent crime rates.

Lucia Cheng is a service and trending reporter at the Des Moines Register. Contact her at lcheng@gannett.com or 515-284-8132