U.S. News & World Report has ranked Iowa number 12 out of all 50 states in the country.
The 2026 Overall Best State Rankings evaluated all 50 states across eight categories, including education, health care, economy, infrastructure, opportunity, fiscal stability, natural environment and crime & corrections.
Each category is weighted differently from the others, but the report doesn’t just take into account how each state scores on metrics. It also included the responses of more than 56,000 people across the United States on how satisfied they were with their state’s performance.
Iowa climbed two spots from 2025, when it ranked 14th. Iowa was ranked sixth in 2024.
Looks like Iowa’s got some visibility.
In what categories did U.S. News & World Report rank Iowa highly for?
U.S. News gave Iowa 12th place for the state’s high scores across the eight categories. Its website also notes that Iowa is a “relatively small state that has played a disproportionately large role in American politics” due to the Iowa Caucuses.
Here’s the breakdown of Iowa’s scores:
What are the top 10 U.S. states for 2026?
Overall, U.S. News gave high marks to multiple states in the Midwest due to improvements in their economy, health care and natural environment scores:
What are the 10 worst U.S. states for 2026?
The back of the pack is dragged down by “inertia,” which highlights “how systemic challenges can impede progress in the categories citizens care most about,” the U.S. News website states.
While almost every state excels in at least one area, Louisiana is the only state with a bottom-10 ranking in every category.
How were the rankings determined?
In determining the rankings, U.S. News analyzed 71 metrics across eight categories – education, health care, economy, infrastructure, opportunity, fiscal stability, natural environment and crime & corrections.
Some categories were weighted more than others. For example, health care and education were weighted more than crime & corrections and natural environment. Within the categories, each state was given points out of 100, with the best state given 100 points and the worst given zero.
In addition to these point-based ratings, U.S. News surveyed people across the country on how satisfied they were with their state’s performance in the categories. Between 2018 and 2025, U.S. News surveyed more than 56,000 people across the United States.
Here’s a closer look at how the categories were analyzed:
Lucia Cheng is a service and trending reporter at the Des Moines Register. Contact her at lcheng@gannett.com or 515-284-8132.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa climbs 2 spots on best states list. How did it rank in 2026?
Reporting by Lucia Cheng and Ahmed Jawadi, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Lucia Cheng and Ahmed Jawadi, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
