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Executive BriefIntroductionNational SnapshotFindingsHealth OutcomesSocial and Economic FactorsClinical CareBehaviorsState RankingsAppendixMeasures Table – WomenMeasures Table – ChildrenData Source DescriptionsMethodologyState Summaries
US Summary
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
US SummaryAlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingRankings included in the 2024 Health of Women and Children Report are derived from 82 measures across five categories of health: Social and Economic Factors, Physical Environment, Behaviors, Clinical Care and Health Outcomes. Visit the America’s Health Rankings Methodology page for a more detailed description of how the overall rank is calculated.
New Hampshire Ranks No. 1
New Hampshire is the healthiest state in this year’s report, ranking first for children and sixth for women. It ranks among the top five states in Social and Economic Factors (No. 2), Behaviors (No. 2) and Clinical Care (No. 4). New Hampshire is No. 13 in Physical Environment and No. 15 in Health Outcomes.
- Strengths: Low percentage of women in poverty, high prevalence of high school completion and low percentage of children in poverty.
- Challenges: Low percentage of children who are flourishing, high prevalence of frequent mental distress among women and high prevalence of multiple chronic conditions among women.
Massachusetts (No. 2), Minnesota (No. 3), New Jersey (No. 4) and Vermont (No. 5) complete the top five healthiest states.
Arkansas Ranks No. 50
Arkansas is the least healthy state in this year’s report, ranking No. 49 for children and last for women. It ranks in the bottom five states in Social and Economic Factors (No. 50), Physical Environment (No. 47), Behaviors (No. 48) and Health Outcomes (No. 49). Arkansas is No. 44 in Clinical Care.
- Strengths: Low prevalence of illicit drug use among adolescents, high prevalence of well-woman visits and low housing cost burden among households with children.
- Challenges: High prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among children, high teen birth rate and high prevalence of cigarette smoking among women.
Mississippi (No. 49), Louisiana (No. 48), Oklahoma (No. 47) and West Virginia (No. 46) complete the five least healthy states.
This graph displays the state scores and rank with the least healthy states on the top left and the healthiest states on the top right. The distance between bars shows the difference between state scores. For example, Oklahoma (No. 47) and West Virginia (No. 46), while close in ranking, have a sizable difference in score, meaning Oklahoma would need to make improvements in many measures to improve its rank. There is also a large gap in score between Oklahoma and Louisiana (No. 48).
To further explore state-level data, see Explore Data. The website features downloadable State Summaries for each state and the District of Columbia. Each summary describes state-specific strengths, challenges, trends and rankings for individual measures, allowing users to identify which measures positively or negatively influenced each state’s overall rank. This can be visualized by selecting a state in the Explore Data section. Disparity ratios, the relative difference between two groups within a demographic, have been added to the State Summaries on the website this year. For addThe website also features an Adjust My Rank tool that allows users to explore how progress and challenges across key measures can affect a state’s overall rank.