We’re not the best state in the union, but we’re not the worst either — we’re just kinda, sorta below average.

That’s one of the takeaways from U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of “Best States” in the U.S.

Illinois ranks 29th overall, based on a range of data that includes health care, education, crime,  infrastructure, opportunity, economy and government.

“Some states shine in health care. Some soar in education. Some excel in both — or in much more,” U.S. News says in its introduction. “The Best States ranking of U.S. states draws on thousands of data points to measure how well states are performing for their citizens.”

Illinois’ top performance category, in fact, is infrastructure, where we finished 10th. We’re 21st in transportation (we excel at public transportation usage), 19th in energy (our power grid reliability is up there), and 14th in Internet access (with strong marks in download time).

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Illinois ranks 47th in government, where we’re dead last in the “fiscal stability” subcategory. The good news is we’re No. 11 in government digitalization, No. 13 in budget transparency and No. 7 in state integrity (tied with Iowa and Washington).

For the record, Massachusetts was the No. 1 “best” state. Top performers in the Midwest include Minnesota (No. 3), Iowa (No. 6) and Wisconsin (No. 16).

For a deeper dive into the data, visit the “Best States Rankings” page on the U.S. News website.

Read More

• Read More U.S. News ‘About Illinois’.
• Read More About U.S. News’ Methodology

Best States Overall Ranking

SOURCE: U.S. News & World Report

Overall	State	Health Care	Education	Crime & Corrections	Infrastructure	Opportunity	Economy	Government
#1	Massachusetts	2	1	7	19	16	5	16
#2	New Hampshire	4	3	12	13	1	13	30
#3	Minnesota	3	11	17	5	2	12	24
#4	North Dakota	19	16	15	6	7	2	7
#5	Washington	9	7	25	2	17	11	8
#6	Iowa	5	8	16	16	6	30	10
#7	Utah	15	9	30	3	23	4	3
#8	Maryland	14	5	22	14	5	21	18
#9	Colorado	11	18	26	7	31	1	13
#10	Vermont	6	15	1	28	10	33	21
#11	Virginia	25	10	6	24	11	27	2
#12	Connecticut	12	4	8	26	15	38	20
#13	Nebraska	20	6	27	9	21	20	17
#14	New Jersey	8	2	4	18	27	25	50
#15	South Dakota	17	13	28	8	25	24	25
#16	Wisconsin	21	17	10	37	14	35	5
#17	New York	13	19	5	22	44	29	23
#18	Maine	16	28	2	30	3	42	39
#19	Oregon	24	22	36	1	29	15	27
#20	Delaware	22	26	43	17	8	9	34
#21	Rhode Island	7	31	3	35	32	18	38
#22	Indiana	41	27	33	20	4	26	1
#23	California	10	25	20	33	42	3	44
#24	Florida	31	29	37	11	43	7	9
#25	North Carolina	27	21	24	47	34	17	4
#26	Wyoming	43	12	13	29	9	41	40
#27	Hawaii	1	36	38	48	13	22	33
#28	Kansas	23	14	32	15	22	43	48
#29	Illinois	32	20	29	10	19	44	47
#30	Pennsylvania	18	33	14	34	26	39	36
#31	Montana	36	24	23	32	30	23	28
#32	Idaho	40	40	9	21	39	8	37
#33	Michigan	34	42	19	41	12	28	22
#34	Arizona	28	43	39	12	33	19	26
#35	Ohio	29	38	34	40	18	31	12
#36	Georgia	38	37	35	27	41	14	15
#37	Missouri	35	23	44	36	24	36	14
#38	Texas	30	41	31	49	45	6	11
#39	Tennessee	42	32	45	23	37	32	6
#40	Nevada	37	49	46	4	38	10	49
#41	West Virginia	46	44	18	44	20	49	19
#42	Kentucky	44	35	11	46	35	40	35
#43	Alaska	33	34	47	25	28	50	41
#44	Oklahoma	48	30	40	42	36	34	31
#45	South Carolina	39	50	41	43	48	16	32
#46	New Mexico	26	48	49	38	46	47	43
#47	Alabama	47	47	42	31	40	45	42
#48	Arkansas	50	39	48	45	47	37	29
#49	Mississippi	49	45	21	50	50	48	45
#50	Louisiana	45	46	50	39	49	46	46