Overview

• Massachusetts secured first place thanks to its leading healthcare system, highest health insurance coverage and lowest premature death rate along with top education and safety scores.
• Idaho jumped from sixth to second, buoyed by a 0.5% real estate tax rate, high homeownership and the strongest median household income growth.
• Florida fell to sixth after its housing affordability ranking slid to 47th, building-permit growth dropped from 22nd to 43rd and its unemployment rank slipped from first to 20th.
• New Jersey, Wisconsin and Minnesota rounded out the top five, with New Jersey’s high median income and low food insecurity driving its move into third place.
• New Mexico landed last amid the nation’s highest crime rate and one of its highest poverty rates.