(KGTV) – California is one of the best in the nation when it comes to health care and education, but U.S. News & World Report placed the Golden State amongst the bottom half overall in its latest “Best States” rankings.
To determine how to rank the states, U.S. News & World Report “used thousands of data points to capture how all 50 states serve their residents.” Stats were collected from over 70 metrics across the following eight categories:
- Crime & Corrections
- Economy
- Education
- Fiscal Stability
- Health Care
- Infrastructure
- Natural Environment
- Opportunity
In the end, California -- the most populous U.S. state -- was listed 33rd out of the 50 states.
The overall Health Care rankings, in which California placed 6th, are based on “health care access, health care quality and public health outcomes,” U.S. News said.
When it comes to the Education category, California came in at No. 20 overall. The category is based on data focusing on preschool and K-12 education and higher education.
For the other main categories of the study, California did not fare so well.
The state finished 23rd in Crime & Corrections; 29th in Economy; 39th in Fiscal Stability; 34th in Infrastructure; 30th in Natural Environment; and 50th in Opportunity.
California’s dead-last ranking under Opportunity is based on the study’s factors of “exploring if states are granting citizens tools to succeed.”
According to the study, the five best overall states are:
1. Utah
2. Washington
3. Idaho
4. Nebraska
5. Minnesota
The states ranked in the bottom five:
46. West Virginia
47. New Mexico
48. Mississippi
49. Alaska
50. Louisiana
Click here for the full list of Best States and the breakdowns for each category.
