LOCAL
US News ranks best and worst states. See where Kentucky landed
Marina JohnsonLouisville Courier Journal
July 31, 2026, 5:02 a.m. ET
- A new US News study ranked Kentucky as one of the worst states in the nation overall.
- The rankings were determined by analyzing 71 metrics across eight weighted categories, including health care, education, and economy.
A new study has ranked the 50 states from best to worst, and Kentucky falls near the bottom
US News published its 2026 Overall Best State Rankings the week of July 27. Each state was analyzed in eight categories: Education, health care, economy, infrastructure, opportunity, fiscal stability, natural environment and crime and corrections
Here’s what to know
US News ranks Kentucky No. 41
Kentucky ranks No. 41 overall 10 for crime and corrections, No. 19 for natural environment, No. 25 for opportunity, No. 28 for infrastructure, No. 33 for education, No. 37 for fiscal stability, No. 45 for economy and No. 46 for healthcare
See rankings of 50 states
Here’s a closer look at how US News ranked each of the 50 states:
- Utah
- South Dakota
- Minnesota
- North Dakota
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- Idaho
- Florida
- Washington
- Vermont
- Massachusetts
- Iowa
- North Carolina
- Delaware
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Virginia
- New Jersey
- Maryland
- Georgia
- New York
- Kansas
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Maine
- Hawaii
- Montana
- Indiana
- Missouri
- South Carolina
- Rhode Island
- Arizona
- California
- Oklahoma
- Illinois
- Nevada
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Kentucky
- Ohio
- Alabama
- West Virginia
- Arkansas
- Michigan
- New Mexico
- Mississippi
- Alaska
- 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, US News surveyed people across the country on how satisfied they were with their state’s performance in the categories. Between 2018 and 2025, US News surveyed more than 56,000 people across the United States
Here’s a closer look at how the categories were analyzed:
- Education: 2-year and 4-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, disability status
- Fiscal stability: Government credit rating, pension fund liability, liquidity, budget balancing
- Natural environment: Drinking water and air qualities, low industrial toxins, low pollution health risk
- Crime and corrections: Jailing equality, low juvenile incarceration, low incarceration rate, low property and violent crime rates
Contributing: Greta Cross, USA TODAY. Reach Marina Johnson at Marina.Johnson@courier-journal.com
