Rhode Island Makes the Nice List for Mental Health Care This Holiday Season

• RI has ranked sixth for the best states for mental health support, scoring 69.39 out of 100
• New York tops the rankings with a score of 77.91 for access to mental health facilities
• Southern states dominate the bottom rankings, with Arkansas scoring lowest at 38.99

A new study has revealed the states with the best access to mental health facilities and found that Rhode Island ranks sixth.

Plus Docs has ranked all 50 states based on mental health facility access, revealing significant disparities in care availability across the country. The analysis examined multiple factors, including insurance coverage, mental health worker availability, and crisis service access.

Rhode Island's findings

In sixth place is Rhode Island, scoring 69.39 out of 100. Rhode Island’s per capita expenditure for mental health services in 2024 was $12,617.91, and had 220 workers per provider.

Top 10 States with the Best Mental Health Facility Access

1 - New York (77.91)
2 - Connecticut (76.26)
3 - South Dakota (75.27)
4 - Iowa (74.49)
5 - Vermont (70.96)
6 - Rhode Island (69.39)
7 - Pennsylvania (68.81)
8 - Wisconsin (68.40)
9 - Minnesota (68.00)
10 - New Hampshire (67.07)

Around New Enland

New York earned the top position with a score of 77.91, demonstrating strong performance across key metrics. The state achieved perfect scores for population access to call centers, mobile crisis teams, and crisis stabilization programs, ensuring residents have multiple pathways to receive urgent mental health support. New York spends $11,821.82 per 100,000 people on mental health aid, with 300 mental health workers per provider.

Connecticut secured the second spot with a score of 76.26, performing particularly well in youth mental health coverage. The state has the lowest percentage (2.30%) of youth with mental illness on private insurance without mental/emotional coverage in the nation. In Connecticut, $12,129.30 per capita was spent on mental health facilities in 2024, and there were 220 mental health workers per provider.

Vermont rounded out the top five with a score of 70.96. Vermont also shows strong per capita mental health expenditure, spending $463.92 per capita. The state has 190 mental health workers per provider.

New Hampshire completes the top 10 states with the best mental health support, with a score of 67.07. The state has a slightly lower mental health expenditure per capita, at $6,019.74, and 280 mental health workers per provider.

Daniel li, CEO and Co-Founder of Plus Docs, commented on the findings:

“These numbers tell a clear story about the significant gaps in mental health care access across different regions of the country. The data shows that states prioritizing comprehensive mental health infrastructure typically provide better outcomes for their residents. The disparity between the highest and lowest-ranked states reveals how where you live can dramatically impact your ability to receive needed mental health support.

“The analysis also found that states ranking highly typically offer multiple pathways to crisis care, with ten states providing 100% population access to call centers, mobile crisis teams, and crisis stabilization programs.

“In contrast, only seven states scored below 50 points in the overall rankings, suggesting that while disparities exist, most states maintain at least moderate levels of mental health facility access.”

Methodology: The study analyzed mental health facility access across all 50 US states using data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) 2020 National Directory of Mental Health Treatment Facilities and other state-level mental health data sources.

Key metrics included: percentage of adults reporting 14+ monthly poor mental health days who can't afford a doctor's visit, percentage of adults and youth with mental illness on private insurance without mental/emotional coverage, mental health workers per provider ratio, per capita state mental health agency expenditures, and percentage of population with access to various crisis services.

Each metric was scored on a 10-point scale and weighted to produce an overall state score.