New Ranking Says MA Among Best States In U.S., With Some Exceptions

MASSACHUSETTS — Congratulations to all who possess 508, 617, 774, 781, 857, 978 and 413 area codes: you live in one of the best states in the U.S., at least according to U.S. News & World Report.

Massachusetts came in at No. 11 out of the 50 states, beating out the other two commonwealth states, Virginia and Pennsylvania, in rankings released Tuesday.

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.

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.

As expected, Massachusetts did really well in categories like healthcare and education due to top universities, hospitals and public schools being located here. The state fared much worse for infrastructure — no direct mention of either potholes or the MBTA, however — and the opportunity to move upward socially and economically.

The state performed poorest for government fiscal stability, which tracks "the success of government-sponsored programs and projects."

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 Massachusetts ranked in the eight categories:

• 4th best for Crime & Corrections
• 9th best Economy
• 3rd best Education
• 43rd for Fiscal Stability
• 3rd best for Health Care
• 42nd for Infrastructure
• 3rd best for Natural Environment
• 40th for Opportunity

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

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 as men to work. For every $1 earned by white workers, Black, Hispanic, Indigenous, and other people of color only make 63.9 cents