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Is New Jersey one of the best states in the country? See how it ranks

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8 months ago

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Is New Jersey one of the best states in the country? See how it ranks

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When you think of the best states in the country, where does New Jersey rank? Chances are that if you live in the Garden State, you probably think of it pretty highly.

And, you wouldn’t be wrong: New Jersey is considered the 14th best state in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Reports’ 2024 Best State Rankings. This is an improvement from last year’s best state rankings, where New Jersey ranked 19th out the 50 states.

The ranking was based on eight categories: health care, education, economy, infrastructure, opportunity, fiscal stability, crime and corrections, and natural environment. Each of these categories were assigned a weight based on the three-year average of data from recent national surveys that asked nearly 70,000 people to prioritize each issue in their respective state. Each state also received individual rankings for each of these eight categories.

Where New Jersey ranked in each category

Of the eight categories considered in the ranking, New Jersey placed in the top half of the 50 states for six of them.

The state received its highest ranking for both health care and education, ranking fourth overall. This is an improvement from New Jersey’s eighth place ranking for health care in 2023, falling in line with the report’s claim that the country has overall seen significant improvement in metrics like Medicare quality, health insurance enrollment and urban air quality.

New Jersey’s ranking for education did decrease from second in 2023, though, which the report states is due to the findings that states in the northeast are better at pre-K-12 education than they are at higher education.

“The top 5 states in the pre-K-12 subcategory (Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, New Hampshire and New York) all find themselves in the bottom half of states for higher education,” the report reads. “Nearly across the board, these five states rank in the bottom 10 for tuition and fees and debt at graduation, with New York’s No. 14 ranking on tuition and fees the long exception.”

The state also maintained its fifth place ranking for crime and correction, and maintained fairly similar standards from 2023 by ranking 24th for both natural environment and economy. But, the state saw significant improvement in infrastructure, ranking 16th compared to its ranking of 35th in 2023.

Opportunity and fiscal stability are the two categories where New Jersey performed poorly, ranking in the bottom 10 of all states. The state ranked 43rd for opportunity and 48th for fiscal stability, remaining fairly consistent from their rankings in 2023.

What are the five best, and worst, states in the nation?

Utah ranked as the best state in the nation, achieving top 20 results in seven of the eight categories, according to the report. New Hampshire, Nebraska, Minnesota and Idaho round out the top five best states.

And, ranking 50th overall, Louisiana is considered the worst state in the nation, according to the report. New Mexico, Mississippi, Arkansas and West Virginia make up the remaining bottom five states.

Maddie McGay is the real estate reporter for NorthJersey.com and The Record, covering all things worth celebrating about living in North Jersey. Find her on Instagram @maddiemcgay, on X @maddiemcgayy, and sign up for her North Jersey Living newsletter. Do you have a tip, trend or terrific house she should know about? Email her at MMcGay@gannett.

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