Washington placed ninth in U.S. News best‑states ranking

U.S. News & World Report released its annual best‑states ranking, evaluating all 50 states with 71 metrics across eight categories: healthcare, education, economy, crime and corrections, infrastructure, opportunity, fiscal stability and natural environment. Washington moved up to rank 9 overall, its highest position in recent years.

The state's strongest showings were in the natural‑environment category (7th), education (8th) and infrastructure (8th). It ranked 14th in healthcare, 19th in economy, 26th in both crime and corrections and fiscal stability, and 34th in opportunity. Utah topped the list at #1, while Louisiana fell to last place at #50.