Best US States 2023: Know How Your State Fared In Latest Ranking

Utah has been named the "best state" in the U.S. for 2023. The Beehive State beat out Washington, which held the title for the last two years.

Utah took the top spot in the U.S. News & World Report's ranking of best states in the U.S., which was released Tuesday. It is also number one in the rankings for fiscal stability and economy, while coming in fourth in infrastructure and fifth in education.

"Since early 2020, Utah's tax revenue recovery has consistently outpaced the national trend," Justin Theal, state fiscal health project officer for nonprofit The Pew Charitable Trusts, said in the report. "In fact, tax revenue in Utah has outperformed nearly every state when you compare its overall collections in recent years to the state's pre-COVID growth trend."

Utah was followed by Washington, Idaho, Nebraska and Minnesota respectively. Washington still shows its consistency as it managed to notch the second spot, the report said.

The other top-10 finishers are New Hampshire, Iowa, Wisconsin, Vermont and Florida — the state also ranked first in the category of education.

States like New York and California ranked 20 and 33 respectively. The full list can be found here.

On the flip side, Michigan ranked 41st on the list, followed by South Carolina, Oklahoma, Alabama and Arkansas respectively. West Virginia ranked 46th, followed by New Mexico (47), Mississippi (48) and Alaska (49). Louisiana ranks last among the "best" states.

The states were ranked based on several categories, including fiscal stability, healthcare, crime and corrections and natural environment.

"Yet no state is perfect, regardless of category or overall ranking," the report noted. For instance, even though Utah ranked first overall, it ranked no.46 in terms of natural environment. While Washington ranked second and had previously earned the top spot, it was ranked 30th in opportunity.

It's the same case for the states at the bottom of the list. Although Mississippi ranked 48th overall, it's actually at the 16th spot in terms of natural environment. New Mexico, which was ranked 47th overall, is still 16th in fiscal stability, while West Virginia (46th overall) is ranked 18th in crime and corrections, as well as opportunity.

There were also other top-performing states that did not even get to the top 10. Hawaii, for instance, was ranked 31st overall, but it took the top spot in healthcare, followed by Rhode Island (which ranked 32nd overall), Massachusetts (11), Maryland (22) and Connecticut (16). Hawaii was also number one in the natural environment category.

Although the list at a glance ranks the "best" states in the country, a closer look at the data shows the categories in which each state may still be doing well or lacking in, with the latter emphasizing the need for more attention for the sake of the residents.