US News rankings say Michigan is in the pits
A new US News report ranks Michigan among the bottom five states in the U.S. based on metrics including education, economy, and infrastructure. Utah was ranked as the best overall state, while Louisiana placed last.
Why it matters
State rankings influence public perception, policy priorities, and potentially economic investment or migration patterns.
Hear this story View Comments A new study has ranked each of the 50 states from best to worst and Michigan is taking its lumps.
US News published its 2026 Overall Best State Rankings the week of July 27. Each state was analyzed in eight categories: Education, health care, economy, infrastructure, opportunity, fiscal stability, natural environment, and crime and corrections.
This year, the states among the top five best are Utah, South Dakota, Minnesota, North Dakota and Nebraska. As for the bottom of the barrel, Arkansas, Michigan, New Mexico, Mississippi, Alaska and Louisiana ranked the lowest.
That's right, Michigan is in the bottom five, the 10th percentile, a laggard.
Michigan ranked best (24th) in healthcare, but finished 45th in education, 43rd in economy, 42nd in infrastructure, 38th in fiscal stability, 33rd in opportunity and 32nd in both crime and corrections and natural environment.
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