According to the latest ranking published by “U.S. News & World Report” on July 28th, California, the state with the largest population and economy in the United States, ranks 35th in the Best States rankings.
Utah is ranked first in the United States, followed by South Dakota, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Nebraska.
This ranking is based on eight categories including education, healthcare, economy, and fiscal stability, and is calculated by combining the results of opinion polls.
Despite the median household income in California exceeding $100,000, higher than the national average income of $81,600, the state ranks the lowest in the “Opportunity” category nationwide. One of the main reasons is that California ranks poorly in affordability, which evaluates based on the cost of living index and housing affordability index.
The California Department of Housing and Community Development even categorizes six-figure annual incomes in many coastal areas as “low income.”
According to the income standards published by the department on June 23rd, annual incomes of $100,000 or below in seven counties including San Francisco, Marin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, and Orange, are considered low income.
Among them, Santa Cruz County has the highest threshold for low income, where a single-person household earning below $122,200 annually is deemed low income.
The California Legislative Analyst’s Office stated that the median price of a mid-priced home in California is about $775,000, nearly twice the national average of $398,771.
The institution highlighted in the “2026 Housing Affordability Tracker” that “California home prices continue to far exceed other areas in the United States.”
In the evaluations by “U.S. News & World Report,” healthcare is the category where California performs the best, ranking 7th nationwide, with healthcare quality ranked 6th and public health ranked 5th.
Public health assessment indicators include infant mortality rate, overall mortality rate, obesity rate, smoking rate, suicide rate, and mental health, among others.
The report pointed out that the uninsured population in California accounts for 8.4%, lower than the national average of 11.3%; California’s obesity rate is 29.1%, also lower than the national average of 34.2%.
In terms of education, California overall ranks 25th nationwide, with higher education ranking 6th, including graduation rates, student debt at graduation, and tuition levels.
However, K-12 education in California only ranks 41st nationwide, based on factors such as high school graduation rates, preschool enrollment rates, and student test scores.
Additionally, another report last month included six California cities in the top ten metropolitan areas with the lowest educational attainment in the United States, namely Visalia, Bakersfield, Modesto, Fresno, Stockton, and Salinas.
The report ranks based on the proportion of the population aged 25 and older who have a high school education or higher, have at least some college education, hold a bachelor’s degree, and have obtained a graduate or professional degree.
Although several areas in the Central Valley rank low, the San Jose metropolitan area in Silicon Valley ranks 4th in educational attainment nationwide, and the San Francisco metropolitan area ranks 8th.