Florida Tops U.S. States in Education, Economy: Report

Florida was listed as the best state in the country for education and the economy in 2024, according to U.S. News and World Report

The report found the Sunshine State No. 1 for Higher Education and No. 10 in Pre-K-12 Education. Florida also has a lower debt at graduation ($13,872) than the national average ($14,086) and a higher high school graduation rate (87.3) than the national average (85.9).

The state was also No. 1 in education in the report's 2023 findings.

On the economy, Florida holds a 4.8% job growth, which is 2.1% better than the national average (2.7%). The state also has a 1.7% net migration rate, much better than the 0.3% national average, and a $1.87 Venture Capital per GDP compared to the national average of $6.23.

Overall, Florida ranked No.9 of all U.S. states according to the report. The state also placed No. 13 for Crime and Corrections, No. 13 for Natural Environment, No. 20 for Fiscal Stability, No. 20 for Infrastructure, No. 26 for Health Care, and No. 45 for Opportunity.

While mostly positive, a different report found some Florida cities as having financially distressed residents.

For its report, U.S. News and World ranked all 50 U.S. states across 71 metrics across eight categories. The categories were all weighted based on the average of three years of data from national surveys asking 70,000 people total to judge the importance of each subject in their state.

Utah ranked as the best state in the country with Top 10 marks on Education (No. 2), Economy (No. 3), and Infrastructure (No. 3), and Crime and Corrections (No. 9). The state was followed by New Hampshire, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Idaho in the top 5.

On other metrics, New Hampshire ranked No. 1 for Crime and Corrections while its neighbor, Vermont, placed No. 1 for Opportunity. North Dakota ranked No. 1 for Infrastructure, Wyoming placed No. 1 for Fiscal Stability, while Hawaii finished No. 1 in both Health Care and Natural Environment.

Louisiana, New Mexico, Mississippi, Arkansas, and West Virginia were all states in the bottom 5 of the rankings. In categories dead last, Louisiana was No. 50 in Crime and Corrections, New Mexico was N0. 50 in Education, while Mississippi was No. 50 in Health Care and the Economy.

Notably, no other state in the Southeastern United States finished anywhere near Florida's ranking. Georgia was the next closest at No. 18 followed by North Carolina at No. 19.