Florida was found to have the best economy in the country.
A new analysis by U.S. News & World Report has ranked Florida as one of the best states to live in.
Analysts compiled the list by using factors such as health care, education, roads, bridges, internet and other infrastructure, along with natural environment and fiscal stability of a state’s government.
The Sunshine State was ranked the sixth-best state in the country for 2025. Florida’s allure to countless visitors each year is proof the state is an attractive commodity, according to writers with the periodical.
“With millions of visitors each year to its beaches, major amusement parks centered around Orlando and cruise ships departing from ports on both coasts, tourism is a major contributor to Florida’s gross domestic product. The state’s agriculture industry is also robust, with Florida groves producing many of the country’s oranges and a winter vegetable industry that makes agriculture a year-round enterprise,” the U.S. News & World Report analysis concluded.
In the breakout analyses, Florida was ranked first in economy, second in education, ninth in fiscal stability, 12th in natural environment, 13th in crime and corrections, and 15th in infrastructure.
While tourism is an obvious benefit to Florida funding a healthy economy, the report also says the absence of a personal income tax contributes to the state’s attractiveness. Some 1,350 miles of coastline also is a rare benefit contributing to the state’s high ranking.
Florida was the only state in the southern U.S. to be listed in the top 10. Utah was first, followed by New Hampshire and Idaho. Minnesota and Nebraska rounded out the top five.
On the other end of the rankings, southern states accounted for more than half of the lower rungs of the list. Six of the bottom 10 states are in the southern area of the country. Louisiana was ranked 50th and was immediately preceded by Alaska at No. 49 and Mississippi at No. 48.