Through the Best States rankings, U.S. News strives to capture how well states serve their residents. The top 10 overall states, for instance, generally perform strongly across many of the project’s categories, such as education, infrastructure and natural environment. Those at the bottom of the list, meanwhile, are more likely to struggle across multiple areas.
But what about the most average states? There are multiple ways to measure the concept of “average” in the context of the rankings’ methodology, in which states are ranked relative to one another based on their performance across 71 metrics in eight differently weighted categories. But when examining the middle of the overall rankings, it just so happens that the No. 25 state is literally in the middle of the country.
We’re looking at you, Kansas.
The No. 25 performance by the Sunflower State – which, coincidentally, is home to what’s considered the geographic center of the lower 48 states – represents an improvement. Kansas ranked No. 27 in the 2023 Best States rankings and was one of 19 states to jump at least one spot year over year. In 2024, Kansas also landed in the middle of the economy and crime and corrections categories, ranking No. 27 and No. 29, respectively.
Another state in the running for “most average” is Rhode Island at No. 26 in the overall rankings. Though not as geographically centered as Kansas, the Ocean State climbed six spots from last year’s rankings to land more squarely in the center of the pack. It also landed around the middle of the economy and opportunity categories, ranking No. 18 and No. 33, respectively.
Neither Kansas nor Rhode Island is average across the board. Kansas’ worst categories are fiscal stability (No. 40) and natural environment (No. 40), while it landed in the top 10 for two others: infrastructure (No. 5) and opportunity (No. 7). Rhode Island is in the bottom 10 for infrastructure (No. 45) and fiscal stability (No. 47), but among the top 10 in three categories: natural environment (No. 3), health care (No. 5) and crime and corrections (No. 7).
Taking a slightly broader view of the middle of the overall rankings, the states at the spots of No. 23 (New York), No. 24 (Montana), No. 27 (Tennessee) and No. 28 (Maine) also could be considered average.
Geographically, they sit in the West, South and Northeast, skipping over the Midwest. Like Kansas and Rhode Island, these four states also rise above the average in various categories. New York ranks in the top 10 for natural environment and health care, while Maine does the same in crime and corrections and opportunity. Montana’s best categories are opportunity (No. 8) and economy (No. 9). Tennessee ranks No. 5 for fiscal stability.
But when it comes to the states that rank in the middle of the eight specific Best States categories, the center of the country is again heavily represented. Cases in point: Indiana is No. 25 in two categories – education and fiscal stability – while Oklahoma is No. 26 in both opportunity and fiscal stability.
Among additional categories:
States from other portions of the country also make appearances in the middle of the pack.
Some of these states excel from an overall rankings perspective as well, with Nebraska at No. 3 and Georgia at No. 18. Others fall in the lower half of the list.
Regardless, while these states may be “average” at least in some ways, that doesn’t mean they aren’t important. In fact, all seven swing states poised to play vital roles in the upcoming presidential election span the middle of the overall Best States rankings, landing between No. 17 and No. 42.
In the end, every state matters.
