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U.S. News & World Report annually evaluates all 50 states in the nation to compile its Best States rankings. This year, New Jersey landed at a respectable No. 14, up five spots from 2023. 

To determine the list, U.S. News ranks states in categories including health care, education, economy, infrastructure, opportunity, fiscal stability, crime & corrections and natural environment, the publication said in its May 7 announcement. 

This year, Utah landed in the No. 1 spot, with New Hampshire, Nebraska, Minnesota and Idaho rounding out the top five. Bringing up the bottom five were Louisiana, New Mexico, Mississippi, Arkansas and West Virginia. 

New Jersey’s report card 

Launched in 2017, the Best States rankings are determined from more than 70 metrics and tens of thousands of data points, according to U.S. News, which weighted some metric categories over others, based on surveys of what matters most to residents. 

The publication shared each state’s scorecard, with the Garden State placing: 

• No. 4: Education 
• No. 4: Health care 
• No. 5: Crime and corrections 
• No. 16: Infrastructure 
• No. 24: Economy 
• No. 24: Natural environment 
• No. 43: Opportunity 
• No. 48: Fiscal stability 

NJ Chamber responds 

On May 14, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce responded to the U.S. News ranking, saying “for New Jersey, there was good news and bad news.” 

The organization applauded the overall evaluation but pointed to the state’s No. 48 showing for fiscal stability as a red flag. 

“The lingering question is what can New Jersey’s government leaders do about it?” the chamber asked in the statement. 

“We can start by not exacerbating the weaknesses highlighted in these surveys, which would occur if we raise business taxes,” said NJ Chamber President and CEO Tom Bracken, pointing to Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed corporate transit fee. 

As NJBIZ has reported, the CTF is a 2.5% surcharge on the state’s most profitable businesses. It would serve as a funding source for NJ Transit, which is facing a fiscal cliff. Since Murphy proposed the fee, business groups around the state have been up in arms and warned that it could lead to some companies leaving New Jersey – or not coming here in the first place. 

The CTF “would certainly dissuade future investments by companies – and will stifle economic growth over the long-term,” Bracken added. “We have to support one of New Jersey’s most precious assets – our businesses that employ tens of thousands of hard-working residents.” 

More U.S. News rankings:

On May 14, the publication also released its inaugural list of the best outpatient surgical centers in the country, and nearly 20 New Jersey health care providers were named to the rankings. Click here to see which facilities made the cut.