U.S. News & World Report: Wisconsin ranks #8 best state overall

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - For the second year in a row, U.S. News & World Report ranked Wisconsin as the 8th best state overall in the country.

Executive Editor for News and Events at U.S. News & World Report Morgan Felchner explained that Wisconsin performs well across the board, comparing factors such as healthcare, economic stability and infrastructure.

One area that the state ranked highly in was education, sitting at #6. Felchner said that Wisconsin’s high school graduation rate and tuition and fees for colleges played a key role in it’s high rank for education.

“It’s a testament to all the different things that are going on in Wisconsin in terms of education from both K-12 all the way up to higher education as well,” Felchner said.

Wisconsin’s largest improvement this year was in fiscal stability, but the state fell behind others in the natural environment ranking and infrastructure, receiving #29 and #27 respectively.

Felchner said it is important to keep in mind that Wisconsin has been a consistently high rated state.

“That really means that the state government is doing a lot to help its residents, and that’s really what we’re looking for,” Felchner said.

The best states analysis uses more than 70 metrics and thousands of data points to rank how each state serves its residents.

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