Minnesota ranks 3rd on best state to live nationwide list
Bike MS: Bike Across Minnesota 2026 kicks off
The Bike MS: Ride Across Minnesota kicked off. The Executive Director for the Upper Midwest Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis joins All Day to tell us about the ride.
(FOX 9) - Minnesota has once again been ranked near the top five on a list of best states to live in the U.S. in 2026.
Minnesota ranks #3 best state
What we know:
U.S. News’ Best States rankings says it used thousands of data points to measure how well states are performing compared to others.
Of the states surveyed, Minnesota ranked No. 16 for crime, No. 24 for its economy, No. 15 for education and #11 for fiscal stability.
Big picture view:
Overall, the combined scores were good for making the land of 10,000 lakes the third-best state to live in the U.S. – behind only Utah and neighboring South Dakota.
North Dakota and Nebraska also placed in the No. 4 and No. 5 spots, rounding out a respectable showing from the Midwest region.
How it’s calculated
Dig deeper:
The ranking system says it puts "more weight to some categories than others," based on a survey of "what matters most to people."
The rankings show how each of the 50 U.S. states ranks in 71 metrics across eight categories: Health care (15.97%), education (15.94%), economy (13.36%), infrastructure (12.93%), opportunity (12.29%), fiscal stability (11.36%), crime and corrections (9.16%), and natural environment (8.99%).
The Source: Information provided by the Best States rankings by U.S. News.