(WHDH) — A new ranking of the best states in the nation puts Massachusetts at No. 8.
The criteria for the poll’s rankings were based off health care, education, economy, opportunity, infrastructure, crime and corrections, fiscal stability, and quality of life. These criteria were weighted on a scale depending on what mattered most to people. Health care and education were weighted most heavily.
It’s a big dip for the Commonwealth — the same ranking had Massachusetts as the top state in the nation last year.
Massachusetts finished 1st in education, and 5th in healthcare, and 5th in crimes and corrections. So why is it the Bay State stuck with the 8th seed?
Well, Massachusetts ranked 45th in infrastructure, 40th in fiscal stability and 25th in quality of life.
The state’s neighbors to the north, New Hampshire, leapfrogged Massachusetts to take fifth.
The rest of the top 8 goes as follows:
- Iowa
- Minnesota
- Utah
- North Dakota
- New Hampshire
- Washington
- Nebraska
Among other New England states, Vermont was ninth, Maine was 22nd, Connecticut was 24th, and Rhode Island was 28th.
The bottom states were as follows:
50. Louisiana
49. Mississippi
48. New Mexico
47. West Virginia
46. Alabama
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