Coming as no surprise to anyone living in Washington State, a new report ranks it as the 5th best state in America. With abundant outdoor activities, quality higher education and a diverse employment base Washington State is a great place to live and to visit. Now thanks to US News and World Report we have data to show just how great Washington is!

Living in Washington State

US News and World Report just completed their first ranking of states. Using thousands of data points, the report measures how each state is performing in 7 major areas. The goal of the report is to have citizens and government leaders engage in discussions on what needs improvement and how to make those improvements across the country.

In addition to finishing 5th overall, Washington ranked highest among the west coast states. Oregon was next, coming in at 19th and California was ranked 23rd.

Washington is now home to over 7 million people and is expecting another 2 million to live in the state by 2040. This growth will create many opportunities for the State and residents to work together to continue to improve on the basic services and infrastructure needed to keep Washington ranked at or near the top in the near future.

Detailed Rankings

Here are some quick numbers that show how Washington State tends to be “above average” in a lot of categories:

Washington finished in the top 10 for Health Care, Education, Infrastructure, and Government.

for Health Care, Education, Infrastructure, and Government. Washington finished in the top 25 for Crime & Corrections, Opportunity, and Economy.

for Crime & Corrections, Opportunity, and Economy. Overall, Washington State averaged a score of 11 out of 46 in all areas.

How Washington Ranked For…

Healthcare

Washington ranked 9th overall in the healthcare category.

This ranking was based on the following question: “How affordable and accessible is health care to Washington State residents?”



Open Healthcare Chart

Healthcare National Rank Adult Dental Visits 19 Adult Wellness Visits 42 Child Dental Visits 3 Child Wellness Visits 12 Health Care Affordability 16 Health Insurance Enrollment 18

Education

When Pre-K – 12 education was measured Washington ranked 16th. Notably, the 4 year college graduation rate earned 5th place in the nation. Total ranking was 7th overall.



Open Education Chart

Education National Rank 2-Year College Grad. Rate 11 4-Year College Grad. Rate 5 Educational Attainment 10 Low Debt at Graduation 10 Tuition and Fees 24 Pre-K – 12 16 College Readiness 11 High School Grad. Rate 38 NAEP Math Scores 12 NAEP Reading Scores 21 Pre-K Quality 2 Preschool Enrollment 35

Crime and Corrections

In the crime and corrections category, Washington State ranked 25th. Even though we scored 2nd place in corrections, public safety was a below average 37th.



Open Crime and Corrections Chart

Crime & Corrections National Rank Corrections 2 Change in Incarceration Rate 25 Equality in Juvenile Jailing 12 Least Juvenile Incarceration 21 Low Incarceration Rate 10 Low Prison Overpopulation 34 Parole Completion 1 Public Safety 37 Low Property Crime Rate 48 Low Violent Crime Rate 17

Infrastructure

2nd place finish based on having the 2nd best internet, 7th in energy, and 20th in transportation (have they been here?! Traffic on I-5 is no picnic folks)



Open Infrastructure Chart

Infrastructure National Rank Transportation 20 Bridge Quality 6 Commute Time 40 Public Transit Usage 3 Road Quality 41 Energy 7 Electricity Price 1 Power Grid Reliability 47 Renewable Energy Usage 2 Internet Access 2 Households With Internet Access 2 Online Download Speed 6

Opportunity

Washington ranked 16th overall in the opportunity category. Pretty good overall, but dragged down by ranking 41st in affordability – the Washington’s worst showing in any of the metrics.



Open Opportunity Chart

Opportunity National Rank Economic Opportunity 16 Gini Index 18 Household Income 10 Low Food Insecurity 19 Low Poverty Rate 17 Equality 17 Disability Employment Rate 23 Education Equality by Race 28 Employment Equality by Race 8 Gender Equality 14 Racial Gap in Income 37 Affordability 41 Cost of Living 38 Housing Affordability 46

Economy

Ranked 11th overall, Washington was ranked as the 6th best in growth, 26th in employment, and 9th in business environment.



Open Economy Chart

Economy National Rank Growth 6 GDP Growth 7 Growth of Young Population 9 Net Migration 8 Employment 26 Job Growth 9 Labor Force Participation 26 Low Unemployment Rate 39 Business Environment 9 Entrepreneurship 35 Patent Creation 3

Government

Washington State ranked 8th overall with scores of 18th in fiscal stability, 24th in budget transparency, 6th in government digitization, and finishing 7th in state integrity.



Open Government Chart

Government National Rank Fiscal Stability 18 Government Budget Balancing 26 Government Credit Rating 16 Pension Fund Liability 16 Government Digitalization 6 Budget Transparency 24 State Integrity 7

Washington is a Great Place to Live

Event though there are certain areas where Washington state can improve, the overwhelming majority of rankings for the Evergreen State were above average.

These findings were published here on the US World News and World Report. The full report provides greater detail on each of these categories and we encourage you to take some time and go and review the full list of rankings. Washington State had solid ranking across all 7 major categories finishing in the top 50% of every category.

While a report in a national publication is great to help you get a broad overall view of an area, we know that nothing beats actually spending time in an area to see how it actually feels.

Explore Washington State is here to help you learn more about the communities, towns, and cities in Washington. Using local resources, we are your go-to place for everything Washington. You can search for all our online resources below:

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