This State Ranks No. 1 Above the Rest

What's the best state? In the eyes of US News & World Report, that distinction belongs to Washington state. The magazine ranked eight factors—health care, education, economy, infrastructure, opportunity, fiscal stability, crime, and natural environment—for its new ranking of all the states. As it turns out, Washington didn't come in first in any one category, but its cumulative score topped everyone else. Coming in at No. 50? Louisiana. Here are the top 10:

1. Washington state
2. New Hampshire
3. Minnesota
4. Utah
5. Vermont
6. Maryland
7. Virginia
8. Massachusetts
9. Nebraska
10. Colorado

Read on for the bottom 10.

Here are states at the bottom of the new ranking:

41. Pennsylvania
42. South Carolina
43. Oklahoma
44. Alaska
45. Arkansas
46. New Mexico
47. West Virginia
48. Mississippi
49. Alabama
50. Louisiana

Click for the full rankings. (More lists stories.)