Methodology
How America's Dashboard ranks and scores all 50 US states.
Overview
America's Dashboard uses real government data to rank all 50 US states across 11 categories. Each metric is normalized to a 0–100 scale and weighted to produce a composite score. States are then ranked 1–50 and assigned letter grades so performance is easy to compare at a glance.
Data Sources
| Source | Metric |
|---|---|
| Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS (Dec 2025) | Unemployment |
| U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 | Median Income |
| FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, 2024 | Crime Rate |
| America's Health Rankings, 2025 | Health |
| WalletHub/NAEP, 2025 | Education |
| U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2024 | Population |
| Cook Political Report, PVI 2024 | Political Lean |
| Tax Foundation, Facts & Figures 2025 | Tax Rates |
| ALEC Rich States Poor States, 2025 | Income Tax |
| WalletHub Tax Burden Study, 2025 | Tax Burden |
| U.S. Census Bureau / FHFA, 2025 | Median Home Price |
| BEA Regional Price Parities, 2023 | Cost of Living |
| EPA AirData, Median AQI by County 2024 | Air Quality |
| EIA State Electricity Profiles, 2024 | Renewable Energy |
| FEMA National Risk Index v1.20, 2025 | Disaster Risk |
| U.S. Census Bureau, Net Domestic Migration 2024 | Migration |
| FCC / BroadbandNow, Broadband Access 2025 | Broadband |
| National Park Service API, 2024 | Parks Data |
| USGS Protected Areas Database (PAD-US), 2024 | Public Land |
| U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022 | Recreation Facilities |
| U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2023 (Commuting) | Commute Time |
| FHWA Highway Statistics, 2023 | Vehicle Miles Traveled |
| U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022 | Restaurants & Arts |
| EIA State Electricity Profiles, 2024 | Electricity Price |
| EIA Natural Gas Prices, 2024 | Natural Gas Price |
| DOL National Database of Childcare Prices, 2023 | Childcare Cost |
| BEA Regional Price Parities (Food), 2023 | Grocery Cost |
| NCES Common Core of Data (CCD), 2023-24 | Public Schools |
| EDFacts ACGR Graduation Rates, 2021-22 | Graduation Rate |
| NCES School District Finance Survey (F-33), 2022-23 | Per-Pupil Spending |
| BEA GDP by State (SAGDP9), 2023 | GDP |
| NASBO Fiscal Survey of States, FY2023 | Budget Balance |
| Census Bureau State Government Finances, FY2022 | State Debt |
| Pew Charitable Trusts Fiscal 50, FY2023 | Rainy Day Fund |
| Pew Charitable Trusts, FY2022 | Pension Funding |
| S&P/Moody's via Ballotpedia, 2025 | Credit Rating |
| Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES (May 2023) | Occupation Wages |
| IRS Statistics of Income, Migration Data 2021-2022 | Migration Flows |
Normalization Formula
Every raw metric is converted to a 0–100 scale using linear interpolation between observed minimums and maximums:
normalize(value, min, max) = ((value − min) / (max − min)) × 100invert
When invert = true (lower values are better, e.g. unemployment), the score is flipped: 100 − score
clamp
All results are clamped to the 0–100 range. Values below the min map to 0, values above the max map to 100.
Category Scoring
💰 Economy
15% weightInput Metrics
- Unemployment rate (BLS)
- Median household income (Census)
Formula
50% × normalize(unemployment, 1.5–7.0, inverted) + 50% × normalize(income, $50K–$110K)🛡️ Safety
12% weightInput Metrics
- Violent crime rate per 100K (FBI UCR)
Formula
normalize(violentCrimeRate, 50–800, inverted)🏥 Health
12% weightInput Metrics
- Health ranking 1–50 (America’s Health Rankings)
Formula
normalize(healthRank, 1–50, inverted)🎓 Education
12% weightInput Metrics
- Education ranking 1–50 (WalletHub / NAEP)
Formula
normalize(educationRank, 1–50, inverted)💼 Fiscal Health
8% weightInput Metrics
- Total tax burden % of income (WalletHub 2025)
- State debt per capita (Census State Gov Finances FY2022)
- Rainy day fund % of expenditures (Pew Fiscal 50 FY2023)
- Pension funded ratio (Pew FY2022)
- Credit rating score (S&P/Moody’s via Ballotpedia 2025)
- GDP per capita (BEA SAGDP9 2023)
- Budget surplus/deficit % of revenue (NASBO FY2023)
- GDP growth rate, YoY real (BEA 2023)
Formula
15% × normalize(taxBurden, 4.5–14%, inv) + 15% × normalize(debt, $1K–$12K, inv) + 15% × normalize(rainyDay, 0–40%) + 15% × normalize(pension, 40–100%) + 15% × normalize(credit, 55–100) + 10% × normalize(gdpPC, $40K–$100K) + 10% × normalize(budget, −5–20%) + 5% × normalize(gdpGrowth, −2–8%)📈 Growth
7% weightInput Metrics
- Population growth % (Census Vintage 2024)
- Net domestic migration rate (Census 2024)
- Unemployment rate (BLS)
Formula
40% × normalize(popGrowth, −0.5–2.5) + 35% × normalize(netMigration, −7–13) + 25% × normalize(unemployment, 1.5–7.0, inverted)🏠 Affordability
10% weightInput Metrics
- Median home price (Census/FHFA 2025)
- Cost of living index (BEA RPP 2023)
- Electricity price ¢/kWh (EIA 2024)
- Childcare cost, annual infant (DOL 2023)
- Gas price $/gallon (EIA 2024)
- Grocery cost index (BEA RPP Food 2023)
- Natural gas price $/Mcf (EIA 2024)
Formula
25% × normalize(homePrice, $200K–$850K, inv) + 20% × normalize(CoL, 85–115, inv) + 15% × normalize(electricity, 8–30¢, inv) + 15% × normalize(childcare, $5K–$20K, inv) + 10% × normalize(gas, $2.50–$5.00, inv) + 10% × normalize(grocery, 85–120, inv) + 5% × normalize(natGas, $5–$25, inv)🌿 Environment
4% weightInput Metrics
- Median air quality index (EPA AirData 2024)
- Renewable energy % (EIA 2024)
- Natural disaster risk score (FEMA NRI 2025)
Formula
40% × normalize(AQI, 20–55, inverted) + 30% × normalize(renewableEnergy, 0–100%) + 30% × normalize(disasterRisk, 0–100, inverted)🏞️ Outdoor Access
6% weightInput Metrics
- Recreation facilities per 10K residents (Census CBP 2022)
- Public land % of state area (USGS PAD-US 2024)
- National park acreage per capita (NPS API 2024)
Formula
40% × normalize(recFacilities, 1–10 per 10K) + 35% × normalize(publicLand, 0–50%) + 25% × normalize(parkAcreage, 0–5 per capita)🚇 Transportation
7% weightInput Metrics
- Mean commute time in minutes (Census ACS 2023)
- % commuting by public transit (Census ACS 2023)
- Vehicle miles traveled per capita (FHWA 2023)
- % working from home (Census ACS 2023)
Formula
35% × normalize(commute, 15–40 min, inverted) + 25% × normalize(transit, 0–15%) + 20% × normalize(VMT, 5K–12K, inverted) + 20% × normalize(WFH, 2–15%)🎭 Livability
7% weightInput Metrics
- Net domestic migration rate per 1,000 (Census 2024)
- Restaurants per 1,000 residents (Census CBP 2022)
- Arts/entertainment establishments per 1,000 (Census CBP 2022)
- Social associations per 1,000 (Census CBP 2022)
- Bars/breweries per 1,000 (Census CBP 2022)
Formula
30% × normalize(migration, −7–13) + 25% × normalize(restaurants, 1.4–2.3) + 20% × normalize(arts, 0.008–0.08) + 15% × normalize(socialAssoc, 0.03–0.20) + 10% × normalize(bars, 0.02–0.30)Composite Score
The composite score is a weighted sum of all 11 category scores. Higher weights reflect greater importance to overall quality of life.
composite = 15% Economy + 12% Safety + 12% Health + 12% Education + 8% Fiscal Health + 7% Growth + 10% Affordability + 4% Environment + 6% Outdoor Access + 7% Transportation + 7% Livability💰 Economy
15%
🛡️ Safety
12%
🏥 Health
12%
🎓 Education
12%
💼 Fiscal Health
8%
📈 Growth
7.000000000000001%
🏠 Affordability
10%
🌿 Environment
4%
🏞️ Outdoor Access
6%
🚇 Transportation
7.000000000000001%
🎭 Livability
7.000000000000001%
Letter Grades
After states are ranked 1–50 by composite score, each receives a letter grade based on its rank bracket:
| Grade | Rank Range |
|---|---|
| A+ | 1 – 5 |
| A | 6 – 10 |
| B+ | 11 – 18 |
| B | 19 – 26 |
| C+ | 27 – 34 |
| C | 35 – 42 |
| D | 43 – 48 |
| F | 49 – 50 |
City Scores
City-level scores are computed from real city-specific data sourced from the Census Bureau (ACS), BLS (LAUS), FBI (UCR), CDC (PLACES), BEA (RPP), and NOAA. Each city's economy, safety, health, growth, housing, fiscal, and transportation scores are calculated independently using city-level metrics such as median income, unemployment rate, crime rates, obesity/diabetes rates, home values, rent, cost of living, commute time, and transit usage. Education, environment, outdoor access, and livability scores fall back to the parent state's values when city-level data is unavailable. Data covers the top 20 most populous cities in each of the 50 states ( 1,000 cities total).
Data Sources
📎Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS (Dec 2025)📎U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024📎FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, 2024📎America's Health Rankings, 2025📎WalletHub/NAEP, 2025📎U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2024📎Cook Political Report, PVI 2024📎Tax Foundation, Facts & Figures 2025📎ALEC Rich States Poor States, 2025📎WalletHub Tax Burden Study, 2025📎U.S. Census Bureau / FHFA, 2025📎BEA Regional Price Parities, 2023📎EPA AirData, Median AQI by County 2024📎EIA State Electricity Profiles, 2024📎FEMA National Risk Index v1.20, 2025📎U.S. Census Bureau, Net Domestic Migration 2024📎FCC / BroadbandNow, Broadband Access 2025📎National Park Service API, 2024📎USGS Protected Areas Database (PAD-US), 2024📎U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022📎U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2023 (Commuting)📎FHWA Highway Statistics, 2023📎U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022📎EIA State Electricity Profiles, 2024📎EIA Natural Gas Prices, 2024📎DOL National Database of Childcare Prices, 2023📎BEA Regional Price Parities (Food), 2023📎NCES Common Core of Data (CCD), 2023-24📎EDFacts ACGR Graduation Rates, 2021-22📎NCES School District Finance Survey (F-33), 2022-23📎BEA GDP by State (SAGDP9), 2023📎NASBO Fiscal Survey of States, FY2023📎Census Bureau State Government Finances, FY2022📎Pew Charitable Trusts Fiscal 50, FY2023📎Pew Charitable Trusts, FY2022📎S&P/Moody's via Ballotpedia, 2025📎Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES (May 2023)📎IRS Statistics of Income, Migration Data 2021-2022