FL Ranked Among Top 10 States In U.S., New Analysis Says

FLORIDA — A new ranking from U.S. News & World Report ranks Florida as the ninth best overall in terms of meeting the needs of its citizens.

The rankings, released Tuesday, measure how well states serve residents across 70 metrics in eight categories: the economy, fiscal stability, education, health care, infrastructure, natural environment, opportunity, and crime and corrections.

Weighting of the categories was based on a survey of what matters most to people, with health care and education weighted the most heavily.

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Here’s where Florida ranked in the categories:

Health care, No. 26
Education, No. 1
Economy, No. 1
Fiscal stability, No. 20
Infrastructure, No. 20
Natural environment, No. 13
Crime and corrections, No. 13
Opportunity, No. 45

“With millions of visitors each year to its beaches, major amusement parks centered around Orlando and cruise ships departing from ports on both coasts, tourism is a major contributor to Florida's gross domestic product,” according to U.S. News. “The state’s agriculture industry is also robust, with Florida groves producing many of the country's oranges and a winter vegetable industry that makes agriculture a year-round enterprise.”

The 10 best states, according to the sixth annual edition of the ranking, are:

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

The lowest-ranked state is Louisiana. Other states that are ranked among the bottom include New Mexico, Mississippi, Arkansas, West Virginia, Alaska, Alabama and Oklahoma.

Read more about the Best States methodology.