Find out how Maine ranks in U.S. News & World Report's 'Best States' rankings
U.S. News & World Report, using data provided by McKinsey & Co.’s Leading States Index, ranks Maine 18th overall in its first-ever “deep dive” ranking of the 50 states based on more than 60 metrics.
Published on Tuesday, the magazine’s “Best States” rankings put Massachusetts and New Hampshire in the overall No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively. In addition to health care and education, the metrics take into account a state’s economy, the opportunity it offers people, its roads, bridges, internet and other infrastructure, its public safety and the integrity and health of state government.
Overall, the six New England states rank in the top tier of the 50 states, with Rhode Island being the region’s lowest-ranking state at 21st overall.
“At a time when the federal government is attempting to hand more responsibility for spending and policy making to the states, these rankings offer the first comprehensive view, state by state, of how some states already are performing best,” U.S. News & World Report stated in its report.
The magazine stated that with its analytics partner the report was designed to have a “highly interactive platform” that enables “users to explore thousands of important benchmarks and easily draw state-to-state comparisons.”
“Build a chart. Share it,” the magazine stated. “And ultimately learn what all the states can learn from one another. The site also delivers a freshly updated menu of reporting and analysis on state trends and developments, making it a must-read source for anyone interested in what’s happening nationally.”
Here's how Maine ranks in health care
Under health care, states were ranked using three broad benchmarks: Access to care, quality of care and the overall health of the population. Those benchmarks include metrics such as the percentage of adults without health insurance and the percentage who haven’t had a routine checkup in the past year, including those who went without medical attention because of the cost. They also include positive measures such as the percentage of children receiving medical and dental care under Medicaid, measures of hospital readmissions within 30 days of discharge, nursing home citations and numbers of seniors covered under high-quality Medicare Advantage plans.
Maine ranks 16th nationally for the quality of its health care. It ranked high for overall health care quality (2), Medicare quality (3), fewest nursing home citations (5), child wellness visits (8) and health care affordability (10). The state’s public health metrics, on the other hand, trended toward the lower end of the ranking spectrum, with an overall ranking of 38th out of the 50 states. Contributing to that benchmark are: mental health (39); low infant mortality rate (37); low mortality rate (35); low smoking rate (36); low suicide rate (33); and low obesity rate (27).
Other rankings
Maine’s highest ranking in the seven general categories reported by U.S. News & World Report is its No. 2 rank in the “crime and corrections.” The state ranks No. 1 overall in low incarceration rate; No. 2 overall in low violent crime rate; and No. 9 overall in low property crime rate.
It ranks No. 3 overall in “opportunity,” behind New Hampshire at No. 1 and Minnesota at No. 2. Maine’s overall ranking benefited from its No. 1 ranking for “equality measures,” which include gender parity, racial inequality in education rates, income and unemployment rates and contribute 40% to the overall score. For the “economic opportunity” metrics, which also contribute 40% to the overall score, Maine scored 25th overall, based on household income (30); low food insecurity (30) and low poverty rate (22).
For “infrastructure,” Maine ranks 30th overall, based on energy (6), internet access (40) and transportation (39).
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