U.S. News & World Report just dropped its 2025 Best States list, evaluating all 50 states across critical metrics like health care, education, economy, infrastructure, fiscal stability, public safety and the environment.
For the third year in a row, Utah snagged the top spot, proving once again that the Beehive State is more than just stunning landscapes and salt flats.
If you ask Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, it’s the people, not just the landscape, that earn the state its top spot: “It’s the hardworking, service-minded people who continue to make Utah the best place to live, work and raise a family,” Cox said.
New Jersey ranked No. 1 for overall education, leading the pack in pre-K through 12th-grade metrics like standardized test scores, high school graduation rates and preschool enrollment.
Florida secured No. 2 overall, but tops the charts in higher education thanks to low tuition costs and strong graduation rates for two- and four-year programs.
At least Maryland ranked No. 2 for environment and No. 20 overall.
Virginia came in at No. 16 overall.
Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky, senior data editor with U.S. News & World Report, told WTOP: “There’s a lot of nuance there and a lot of range.”
“Maryland did place number two in the environment category, and that’s thanks to it having nice, clean air and water and a low rate of industrial toxins or pollution that could harm human health. Maryland also ranked very high in healthcare. I thought it was really interesting, particularly in the area of population health. So it had some of the best rates in the nation for having a low suicide rate, a low smoking rate and a low rate of poor mental health days.”
It’s not all great for Maryland, Jeffrey-Wilensky said.
“On the flip side, this will come as this will come as a surprise to no one who commutes in the area, but Maryland did rank second worst in the nation for commute time, so the longest commute nation,” she said.
Virginia got nailed there as well and landed in the bottom 10 for worse commute times. However, for the Commonwealth: “Its performance was more stable across the different subcategories, but its highest subcategory was in the economy, and it actually was No. 4, the fourth highest for employment rate.”
Sorry Washingtonians, D.C., as usual, didn’t get a rank because it’s not a state.
Here’s the full 2025 Best States rankings, in terms of the Top 10 overall:
- Utah
- New Hampshire
- Idaho
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- Florida
- Vermont
- South Dakota
- Massachusetts
- Washington
The full list, with all the details, is online.
WTOP’s Andrew Alsbrooks contributed to this report.
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