Mapped: America’s healthiest, least healthy states

Axios – Thursday, January 8, 2026
By Mike Allen

A state-by-state health report card, out today from the United Health Foundation, finds an array of encouraging signs for America: Rates for premature death, drug deaths, firearm deaths and homicides all fell. Rates of cancer screenings, physical activity and volunteerism all increased.

• But rates of e-cigarette use and multiple chronic conditions increased. Homelessness and unemployment — socioeconomic factors that help determine the nation’s health — rose.

Why it matters: America’s Health Rankings — from the United Health Foundation, established by UnitedHealth Group — synthesize 99 measures of health and well-being, drawn from 31 data sources, to produce a “comprehensive portrait of health at both the national and state levels.”

State of play: The five healthiest states, based on social and economic factors, physical environment, clinical care, behaviors and health outcomes:

1. New Hampshire
2. Massachusetts
3. Vermont
4. Connecticut
5. Utah

The least healthy states:

46. West Virginia
47. Alabama
48. Mississippi
49. Arkansas
50. Louisiana

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