WA stops slide in ranking of best states, remains in Top 10

There’s some good news for Washington in the U.S. News & World Report “Best States” rankings for 2026: We’ve finally reversed our recent slide.

In the new report, released Tuesday, Washington ranked ninth in the nation. That’s up from 10th in 2025, though still well below our second-place finish in the 2023 rankings.

The rankings are based entirely on quantitative data from government and other sources, factoring in 71 metrics across eight broad categories: healthcare, education, economy, crime and corrections, infrastructure, opportunity, fiscal stability, and natural environment.

Among those eight, Washington’s best showing was in the natural environment category, in which the state ranked seventh. This category measures aspects of air and water quality, as well as pollution.

Washington also cracked the Top 10 in two other categories, ranking eighth for education and infrastructure. The education category covers higher education and pre-K-12, and the infrastructure category includes data related to energy, transportation, and internet access. Washington placed in the Top 10 for both energy and internet, but ranked just 30th for transportation.

It’s worth noting that the state’s high marks for education were largely driven by an excellent showing in the higher education subcategory, where Washington ranked second in the nation behind only Florida. For pre-K-12, Washington did much worse, ranking 31st. That subcategory is largely based on test scores and graduation rates.

Washington performed well in healthcare, ranking 14th, bolstered by consistently high marks for healthcare access and quality and public health indicators.

The economy category was the final one in which Washington placed in the top half of states, coming in at 19th. This category takes into account each state’s business environment, labor market and overall economic growth. It was employment that hurt Washington here; the state ranked just 40th, weighed down by an unemployment rate that remains one of the highest in the nation.

Washington ranked 26th for both the crime and corrections and fiscal stability categories.

In crime and corrections, a 40th-place showing in public safety dragged down the state’s overall ranking. This is likely due in large part to Washington’s high rate of reported property crime.

For fiscal stability, the state did exceptionally well for long-term stability, placing third, but came in dead last — 50th — for short-term stability. Short-term stability is based on liquidity (the number of days’ worth of general fund expenditures held in total balances) and having a balanced budget. This was the only area where Washington ranked last.

The state’s worst overall category was opportunity, ranking 34th. This category accounts for economic opportunity, equality and affordability. Washington would have done well here if it weren’t for — you guessed it — affordability. Based on the overall cost of living and housing costs, Washington ranked a dismal 40th.

Utah, the No. 1 state in the union for the fourth consecutive year, ranked in the Top 20 across six of the eight main categories. Utah’s only poor performance was in the natural environment category, in which the state ranked 48th.

Let’s not call any state the worst. Instead, the “least best” state in 2026 was Louisiana. Sadly, this is becoming something of a tradition for the Bayou State, which has now ranked dead last for five consecutive years. Louisiana placed in the bottom 10 across all eight categories.