by Dan Burns

Jul 8, 2026, 9:30 AM

A new study has Minnesota at #1

For the most part this list of state quality-of-life rankings based on recent data is pretty much the same as what you see all the time. That is, blue states dominating the top and for the most part the reddest ones bunched at the bottom, though it must be noted that there usually are outliers both ways.

For each measure, every state was assessed three ways: how it ranks today compared to other states, whether it is improving or getting worse on its own terms, and whether it is gaining or losing ground relative to its neighbors. That last distinction matters. A state could be technically improving while falling further behind the rest of the country, or slowly declining while outpacing a national nosedive…

Minnesota landed at the top of the overall rankings, with an average rank of 13.9 across all 31 measures. Close behind were New Hampshire, Iowa, Vermont, and Massachusetts. At the other end, Louisiana posted the worst average rank of 40.7, preceded by New Mexico, West Virginia, Nevada, and Mississippi.

Regional patterns were stark. New England and the western Midwest consistently topped the charts, while the South posted the lowest average rankings across the board. Southern states‘ economic struggles stretch back centuries, the authors note, but most of the measures in this report are non-economic, meaning the South’s lower standing on trust, mental health, and other quality-of-life indicators stands as a separate finding in its own right.
(StudyFinds)

It is mildly amusing at times seeing how wingnut welfare lifers try to explain fact-based studies like this away. “Geographical factors,” for example, as if Frost Belt states that are snowed and iced in for part of the year have intrinsic advantages over states that don’t have to deal with that and in many cases have ocean ports. I’ve even seen efforts to blame it all on a war that ended over 161 years ago. Certainly the real problem is those states’ electorates continuing to put stupid, corrupt right-wingers in charge. And sadly that’s a generational thing that is proving to be extremely challenging to fix.

What I find to be particularly interesting here is the uncommon presence of red states like the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Idaho in the top 15. It is noted that this study gave less emphasis to economic factors like average income than many others do. I suppose that one big factor is that a lot of people there are more willing to accept what they have and are glad they’re not living “rat race” kinds of lives. And if that’s the case I honestly don’t blame ‘em, though I do wish they’d change how they vote.

In poll after poll, year after year, the American populace overall favors progressive agendas, even by 2:1 or better on some issues. Yet that doesn’t manifest in a lot of elections. My hypothesis is that people are like “well, things could be better, but they could be a lot worse – just look at the rest of the world – so let’s not go too far with a lot of big changes just yet.” I heartily disagree with that mindset, but I get where they’re coming from.