Story at a glance
- Utah earned the top spot in U.S. News & World Report’s Best States list this year.
- The Beehive State beat out Washington which has held the No. 1 ranking for the past two years.
- Utah was ranked No. 1 on the list in part due its strong economy.
Utah is the best state in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report’s Best States ranking released Tuesday.
The Beehive State outranked Washington which held the top spot on the list for the last two years.
The outlet uses thousands of data points which are then tied to 70 metrics across eight categories to come up with its state rankings.
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Those categories are crime, education, health care, natural environment, economy, fiscal stability, infrastructure, and opportunity.
Utah earned the top spot in financial stability and economy and made it to the top 10 in education, health care, and infrastructure.
But Utah isn’t perfect. The state is ranked 46th in the natural environment category in part due to its large number of days with unhealthy air quality and the prevalence of industrial toxins, according to the report.
Utah residents live through 152 days with unhealthy air quality, higher than the national average of 112 days. The state also has 2,420 pounds of industrial toxins per square mile, scores above the national average of 926, the report found.
The 10 Best States in the U.S.:
The 10 Lowest-Ranked States in the U.S.
50. Louisiana
49. Alaska
48. Mississippi
47. New Mexico
46. West Virginia
45. Arkansas
44. Alabama
43. Oklahoma
42. South Carolina
41. Michigan
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