Come to Connecticut for the healthcare – but don’t expect top marks for opportunity or fiscal stability
That’s the picture painted by U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best States rankings, which placed Connecticut among the nation’s leaders in healthcare while ranking it near the bottom in fiscal stability and opportunity
Connecticut ranked No. 3 for healthcare, trailing only Hawaii and Massachusetts. The ranking evaluates healthcare quality, access and public health using measures such as insurance coverage, child wellness visits, nursing home quality, and obesity, smoking and suicide rates
Advertisement
Overall, Connecticut ranked No. 18 among the 50 states. It also scored well in crime and corrections (No. 6) and education (No. 14). Utah topped the overall rankings, while Louisiana finished last at No. 50
Connecticut’s weakest showing came in fiscal stability, where it ranked No. 47, ahead of only Mississippi, New Jersey and Illinois. The ranking considers factors including a state’s credit rating, pension liabilities and budget-balancing
The state also ranked No. 46 for opportunity, reflecting challenges related to the cost of living, housing affordability, and racial disparities in education and income
U.S. News said the opportunity category measures the extent to which economic and historic inequities affect residents’ ability to advance
Advertisement
“Even in a country known as ‘the land of opportunity,’ economic and historic inequities can stand in the way of upward mobility and progress,” the publication said
This article originally published at U.S. News ranks Connecticut No. 3 for healthcare, near the bottom for opportunity
