Click on the headings below to re-sort the rankings 2016 State Rank Average Score West Virginia 50 25.83 Arkansas 49 27.95 Mississippi 48 29.84 Kentucky 47 30.53 Louisiana 46 31.40 Nevada 45 32.75 Oklahoma 44 34.62 South Carolina 43 35.84 Maine 42 38.39 Florida 41 38.81 Tennessee 40 40.21 Hawaii 39 40.34 South Dakota 38 41.55 Alabama 37 42.67 Wyoming 36 43.01 Iowa 35 43.51 Montana 34 43.73 Alaska 33 44.86 Idaho 32 46.30 Kansas 31 48.43 Indiana 30 49.23 North Dakota 29 49.72 Missouri 28 50.60 Ohio 27 52.31 Vermont 26 52.58 Nebraska 25 53.52 Georgia 24 53.53 Arizona 23 54.87 Wisconsin 22 55.06 New Mexico 21 55.18 New York 20 57.54 Texas 19 58.65 Michigan 18 58.75 New Jersey 17 59.39 Illinois 16 59.50 Rhode Island 15 59.83 Pennsylvania 14 61.54 Oregon 13 62.32 North Carolina 12 62.64 New Hampshire 11 65.31 Delaware 10 65.38 Virginia 9 65.87 Utah 8 69.14 Minnesota 7 69.57 Connecticut 6 71.04 Washington 5 71.83 California 4 75.94 Maryland 3 80.30 Colorado 2 80.40 Massachusetts 1 83.66 2014 State Rank Average Score Massachusetts 1 86.59 Maryland 2 81.48 California 3 76.64 Colorado 4 74.60 Utah 5 74.01 Washington 6 72.71 Virginia 7 71.58 New Hampshire 8 66.88 Connecticut 9 65.51 Delaware 10 65.34 New York 11 64.99 Minnesota 12 64.35 Rhode Island 13 64.20 Pennsylvania 14 63.06 North Carolina 15 62.04 New Jersey 16 61.32 Oregon 17 59.55 Vermont 18 58.99 Arizona 19 58.96 Texas 20 58.56 Illinois 21 58.27 Michigan 22 57.10 Georgia 23 55.03 New Mexico 24 54.91 Wisconsin 25 53.90 Ohio 26 51.72 Indiana 27 50.40 Kansas 28 49.47 North Dakota 29 48.72 Nebraska 30 48.15 Iowa 31 48.01 Alabama 32 46.11 Idaho 33 45.44 Missouri 34 44.62 Hawaii 35 44.37 Tennessee 36 43.74 Florida 37 43.46 Alaska 38 43.22 Montana 39 42.95 South Carolina 40 39.99 Maine 41 36.65 South Dakota 42 35.06 Oklahoma 43 34.86 Kentucky 44 32.65 Arkansas 45 32.45 Wyoming 46 32.13 West Virginia 47 32.11 Louisiana 48 31.34 Mississippi 49 30.86 Nevada 50 30.77 2012 State Rank Average Score Massachusetts 1 86.40 Maryland 2 79.41 California 3 75.70 Colorado 4 75.07 Washington 5 71.88 Virginia 6 71.23 Utah 7 69.83 Delaware 8 69.16 Connecticut 9 68.49 New Hampshire 10 66.07 Pennsylvania 11 64.16 Minnesota 12 63.39 New York 13 62.85 Vermont 14 62.43 New Jersey 15 62.11 Arizona 16 61.56 Rhode Island 17 61.22 Illinois 18 60.81 Texas 19 59.91 Oregon 20 57.84 North Carolina 21 57.80 New Mexico 22 56.55 Michigan 23 55.03 Kansas 24 53.64 Wisconsin 25 53.07 Georgia 26 51.47 Indiana 27 50.63 Ohio 28 49.06 Missouri 29 48.90 Alabama 30 48.59 Iowa 31 47.30 North Dakota 32 46.75 Nebraska 33 45.44 Idaho 34 44.70 Tennessee 35 44.44 Hawaii 36 44.19 Montana 37 43.20 Florida 38 42.15 Maine 39 40.74 Oklahoma 40 39.93 Alaska 41 38.73 South Dakota 42 37.79 South Carolina 43 37.12 Louisiana 44 35.64 Kentucky 45 32.40 Wyoming 46 32.18 Nevada 47 30.80 West Virginia 48 30.61 Arkansas 49 28.28 Mississippi 50 26.05 2010 State Rank Average Score Massachusetts 1 82.61 Maryland 2 77.05 Colorado 3 75.73 California 4 73.85 Utah 5 71.26 Washington 6 70.23 New Hampshire 7 68.69 Virginia 8 68.05 Connecticut 9 66.56 Delaware 10 63.26 New Jersey 11 62.97 Minnesota 12 62.65 North Carolina 13 61.42 Pennsylvania 14 60.78 Arizona 15 60.21 New York 16 59.47 Vermont 17 59.30 New Mexico 18 59.05 Texas 19 58.33 Illinois 20 57.13 Oregon 21 56.53 Rhode Island 22 56.36 Kansas 23 55.48 Wisconsin 24 55.02 Georgia 25 51.71 Michigan 26 50.74 Idaho 27 49.84 Indiana 28 49.70 Ohio 29 49.47 Missouri 30 48.44 Alabama 31 47.29 Iowa 32 46.59 North Dakota 33 46.39 Nebraska 34 45.53 Montana 35 44.37 Hawaii 36 43.87 Alaska 37 42.79 South Dakota 38 41.58 Oklahoma 39 40.32 Florida 40 39.96 Tennessee 41 38.85 Maine 42 37.56 South Carolina 43 36.10 Wyoming 44 35.76 Louisiana 45 35.27 Nevada 46 34.03 Kentucky 47 32.70 Mississippi 48 32.43 West Virginia 49 30.33 Arkansas 50 25.63 *Note: New indicators were incorporated and methodologies changed between indices publications. Please check publications for specific changes and limitations to cross-year comparison.         © 2016 Milken Institute