Virginia Among Top U.S. States For Education, Fiscal Stability: U.S. News Ranking

VIRGINIA — Good schools, health care access and job opportunities are just a few factors Americans take into account when deciding which state to call home. Some states, however, do a better job than others when it comes to serving residents and providing for communities, according to U.S. News & World Report’s annual best states ranking released Tuesday.

Virginia ranked 13th out of all 50 states, earning some of the higher rankings for education, fiscal stability, and crime and corrections.

The 2023 rankings show that Utah is the No. 1 state in the country. The state earned the spot because it ranked among the top 20 states in seven of the eight categories.

Following Utah in the overall rankings are Washington at No. 2 and Idaho at No. 3.

"Citizens, business leaders and policymakers will benefit from the 2023 Best States’ data-driven journalism and rankings to see how well states are performing and gain insights on both state and national levels," said Morgan Felchner, the U.S. News executive editor of news and events.

U.S. News ranks each state using more than 70 metrics across eight categories: health care, education, economy, infrastructure, opportunity, fiscal stability, crime and corrections, and natural environment. The state’s overall ranking is based on the weighted average of the state’s individual rankings in the eight categories.

According to researchers, some categories, like education and health care, are given more weight in the rankings because they matter more to residents.

Here’s how Virginia ranked in the eight categories:

• Health care: 19
• Education: 11
• Economy: 18
• Infrastructure: 38
• Opportunity: 23
• Fiscal stability: 10
• Crime and corrections: 7
• Natural environment: 20

Top-performing states in each category include:

• Health care: Hawaii
• Education: Florida
• Economy: Utah
• Infrastructure: Minnesota
• Opportunity: New Hampshire
• Fiscal stability: Utah
• Crime and corrections: New Hampshire
• Natural environment: Hawaii

The ranking spotlighted recent struggles for Americans, such as increased electricity costs and a rise in the mortality rate.

This year’s report noted the national mortality rate increased by 23 percent, rising from 715.2 per 100,000 in 2019 to 879.7 per 100,000 two years later. The leading cause of death in states was heart disease, cancer, and COVID-19, researchers said, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hawaii had the lowest mortality rate in 2021, while West Virginia had the highest.

This year’s report also revealed systemic flaws in equality by state. In all states, women are 90 percent as likely than men to work. For every $1 earned by white workers, Black, Hispanic, Indigenous, and other people of color only make 63.9 cents.

On the economic side, business creation has increased 23 percent since before the COVID-19 pandemic (2018-2019) to after it began (July 2020 to June 2022).