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State rankings

50 states ranked by the population-weighted average score of their cities — basically, how good a city the typical resident lives in. The site's still about cities; this is the bird's-eye view. Tap a state for its breakdown.

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  1. 1
    Hawaii
    58 ranked cities
    90🏆 Elite
  2. 2
    North Dakota
    13 ranked cities
    90🏆 Elite
  3. 3
    South Dakota
    18 ranked cities
    89🏆 Elite
  4. 4
    Vermont
    8 ranked cities
    87🏆 Elite
  5. 5
    Minnesota
    152 ranked cities
    79👍 Solid
  6. 6
    New Hampshire
    13 ranked cities
    79👍 Solid
  7. 7
    Wisconsin
    156 ranked cities
    76👍 Solid
  8. 8
    Wyoming
    16 ranked cities
    76👍 Solid
  9. 9
    Idaho
    36 ranked cities
    75👍 Solid
  10. 10
    Utah
    94 ranked cities
    74👍 Solid
  11. 11
    Iowa
    86 ranked cities
    73👍 Solid
  12. 12
    Nebraska
    32 ranked cities
    72👍 Solid
  13. 13
    Maine
    20 ranked cities
    71👍 Solid
  14. 14
    Virginia
    63 ranked cities
    69👍 Solid
  15. 15
    Montana
    18 ranked cities
    68👍 Solid
  16. 16
    North Carolina
    142 ranked cities
    68👍 Solid
  17. 17
    West Virginia
    26 ranked cities
    68👍 Solid
  18. 18
    Indiana
    125 ranked cities
    66👍 Solid
  19. 19
    Oklahoma
    75 ranked cities
    66👍 Solid
  20. 20
    Kansas
    64 ranked cities
    66👍 Solid
  21. 21
    South Carolina
    64 ranked cities
    65😐 Meh
  22. 22
    Kentucky
    79 ranked cities
    64😐 Meh
  23. 23
    Alabama
    108 ranked cities
    64😐 Meh
  24. 24
    Washington
    122 ranked cities
    63😐 Meh
  25. 25
    Alaska
    11 ranked cities
    63😐 Meh
  26. 26
    Missouri
    131 ranked cities
    62😐 Meh
  27. 27
    Mississippi
    61 ranked cities
    61😐 Meh
  28. 28
    Ohio
    254 ranked cities
    60😐 Meh
  29. 29
    Florida
    226 ranked cities
    58😐 Meh
  30. 30
    Georgia
    139 ranked cities
    57😐 Meh
  31. 31
    Oregon
    80 ranked cities
    57😐 Meh
  32. 32
    Tennessee
    103 ranked cities
    57😐 Meh
  33. 33
    Arizona
    57 ranked cities
    55😐 Meh
  34. 34
    Massachusetts
    58 ranked cities
    54😐 Meh
  35. 35
    Arkansas
    69 ranked cities
    52😐 Meh
  36. 36
    Colorado
    78 ranked cities
    52😐 Meh
  37. 37
    Pennsylvania
    195 ranked cities
    51😐 Meh
  38. 38
    Texas
    375 ranked cities
    51😐 Meh
  39. 39
    Illinois
    331 ranked cities
    51😐 Meh
  40. 40
    Rhode Island
    8 ranked cities
    50😐 Meh
  41. 41
    New Mexico
    35 ranked cities
    50🫤 Rough
  42. 42
    Michigan
    153 ranked cities
    48🫤 Rough
  43. 43
    New Jersey
    190 ranked cities
    48🫤 Rough
  44. 44
    Maryland
    44 ranked cities
    47🫤 Rough
  45. 45
    Connecticut
    20 ranked cities
    46🫤 Rough
  46. 46
    Louisiana
    56 ranked cities
    46🫤 Rough
  47. 47
    Delaware
    11 ranked cities
    44🫤 Rough
  48. 48
    New York
    168 ranked cities
    39🫤 Rough
  49. 49
    California
    429 ranked cities
    36🫤 Rough
  50. 50
    Nevada
    12 ranked cities
    35🫤 Rough

Each state's score is the population-weighted average of its cities' scores, then placed on a curve relative to the other states— so the best state reads as best and it grades smoothly down to the worst. It's a bird's-eye, states-vs-states ranking; the per-metric breakdowns on each state page stay absolute. (Cities are still scored on the absolute 0–100 scale.)

A state needs at least 3 ranked cities (5,000+ residents with data) to get a meaningful average. Washington, D.C. sits out — it's one city, not a state.