Ohio ranks behind Kentucky, Indiana (but ahead of Michigan) on this list

A new study has ranked each of the 50 states from best to worst, and Ohio falls in the bottom 10 behind some of its neighbors.

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.

This year, the states among the top five best are Utah, South Dakota, Minnesota, North Dakota and Nebraska. As for the bottom of the barrel, Arkansas, Michigan, New Mexico, Mississippi, Alaska and Louisiana ranked the lowest.

Here's a look at this year's rankings and where Ohio stands.

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Ohio ranking in US News state lineup places it behind KY, IN, PA

Ohio comes in at No. 42 overall in the US News ranking, behind Kentucky, Indiana and Pennsylvania (but ahead of Michigan).

The Buckeye State's highest ranking was for opportunity (No. 18), but came in 43rd for natural environment, 38th for economy, 37th for crime and corrections, 36th for healthcare, 31st for infrastructure, 29th for education and 28th for fiscal stability.

Indiana ranked highest for opportunity (No. 17). Kentucky was No. 10 for crime and corrections, and Pennsylvania ranked No. 11 for healthcare.

Michigan's highest rank came in healthcare (No. 24) with the state No. 32 or above in every other category.

West Virginia ranked No. 44 overall and landed at No. 4 for opportunity.

What is the No. 1 ranked state?

US News 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.

What 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.

How are each of the 50 states rated?

Here's a closer look at how US News ranked each of the 50 states:

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, 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

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ohio ranks behind Kentucky, Indiana (but ahead of Michigan) on this list