California has officially been graded, and the numbers are brutal: the state ranks dead last in the nation — 50th out of 50 — for economic opportunity, and a dismal 44th for fiscal stability, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best States rankings.
The survey, which grades all 50 states across eight categories — from healthcare and education to crime and the economy — landed California at 35th overall, outside the top 20 in every single category except healthcare, where it managed a 7th-place finish.
“It’s 25th in education, 27th in environment, dead last, 50th in opportunity, 44th in fiscal stability,” U.S. News managing editor Eric Litke told the outlet. “So, you kind of pull all those things together, and that’s where you land 35th overall.”
Beyond the fiscal stability category’s overall grade, California’s books look even shakier under the hood: the state was pegged at No. 39 for long-term fiscal stability and a worse No. 48 for short-term fiscal stability, per the report’s underlying data.
California also came in 32nd for infrastructure and 36th for crime and corrections — a spread Litke chalked up to the state’s split personality. “You run into a state like California where it obviously has some real prominent strengths, but then there’s enough prominent weaknesses that really balance those out,” he said.
Litke insisted the rankings are meant as a “reality check” free of political spin. “In this space where we are in this hyperpolarized political climate, this is just our attempt to be a reality check,” he said. “So, we’re not letting our perceptions of government be shaped by rhetoric but just saying, ‘Hey, what does the data tell us?’”
Utah claimed the top spot in the 2026 rankings, with South Dakota, Minnesota, North Dakota and Nebraska rounding out the top five — all states with a fraction of California’s tax burden and none of its deficit headaches.
California did tick up two spots from last year, when it ranked 37th. Litke noted the movement reflects “a range of policies and priorities that have been implemented over years and decades” — a diplomatic way of saying Sacramento’s Democrat leadership still has a long way to climb out of the cellar on the metrics that matter most to families and job-seekers.
Source: nypost.com
