Americans need affordable, quality health care – and that’s extremely apparent in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the biggest public health crisis in over a century. Finding good health care at the right price point should be a priority for everyone, but it’s unfortunately not so easy. The average American spends nearly $13,500 per year on personal health care, according to the most recent estimate from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. That’s a daunting statistic considering that many people are already struggling financially due to inflation and lots of debt.
In addition, while health care in the U.S. is expensive, higher medical costs don’t necessarily translate to better results. According to research by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the U.S. lags behind several other wealthy nations in health care quality.
Conditions aren’t uniform across the U.S., though. To determine where Americans receive the best and worst health care, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 44 measures of cost, accessibility and outcomes.
States with Best Health Care Systems
Overall Rank | State | Total Score | Cost Rank | Access Rank | Outcomes Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Minnesota | 67.38 | 2 | 6 | 11 |
2 | Rhode Island | 67.00 | 17 | 1 | 6 |
3 | South Dakota | 65.47 | 5 | 2 | 19 |
4 | Iowa | 65.09 | 1 | 30 | 12 |
5 | New Hampshire | 64.08 | 15 | 14 | 8 |
6 | Massachusetts | 64.05 | 34 | 7 | 2 |
7 | Utah | 63.79 | 20 | 34 | 1 |
8 | Vermont | 63.64 | 40 | 3 | 3 |
9 | Maine | 63.60 | 24 | 4 | 15 |
10 | Colorado | 62.60 | 36 | 9 | 7 |
11 | North Dakota | 62.57 | 23 | 8 | 16 |
12 | Hawaii | 62.49 | 28 | 24 | 4 |
13 | Pennsylvania | 62.28 | 6 | 18 | 20 |
14 | Michigan | 61.95 | 4 | 31 | 17 |
15 | Kansas | 61.39 | 9 | 12 | 25 |
16 | Wisconsin | 61.04 | 37 | 5 | 13 |
17 | Maryland | 60.39 | 11 | 23 | 21 |
18 | Montana | 60.09 | 16 | 15 | 26 |
19 | Nebraska | 60.02 | 26 | 13 | 22 |
20 | Missouri | 59.38 | 7 | 11 | 37 |
21 | Virginia | 58.02 | 8 | 48 | 23 |
22 | Indiana | 57.69 | 10 | 26 | 35 |
23 | Idaho | 57.65 | 31 | 37 | 14 |
24 | Connecticut | 57.65 | 48 | 16 | 9 |
25 | New Jersey | 56.57 | 27 | 19 | 31 |
26 | Ohio | 56.40 | 12 | 33 | 33 |
27 | Oregon | 55.96 | 45 | 35 | 10 |
28 | Illinois | 55.91 | 38 | 22 | 28 |
29 | Kentucky | 55.57 | 3 | 10 | 49 |
30 | Washington | 55.32 | 49 | 45 | 5 |
31 | Delaware | 55.24 | 39 | 28 | 27 |
32 | California | 54.66 | 42 | 38 | 18 |
33 | Nevada | 53.89 | 13 | 43 | 40 |
34 | Arizona | 53.66 | 22 | 46 | 36 |
35 | South Carolina | 53.21 | 29 | 36 | 39 |
36 | New Mexico | 53.03 | 19 | 41 | 41 |
37 | Wyoming | 52.99 | 47 | 27 | 29 |
38 | New York | 52.97 | 50 | 29 | 24 |
39 | District of Columbia | 51.92 | 46 | 25 | 34 |
40 | Tennessee | 50.95 | 14 | 40 | 45 |
41 | North Carolina | 50.82 | 43 | 47 | 30 |
42 | Florida | 50.77 | 35 | 42 | 42 |
43 | Louisiana | 50.38 | 33 | 21 | 46 |
44 | Arkansas | 49.48 | 18 | 32 | 50 |
45 | Texas | 49.39 | 41 | 49 | 38 |
46 | Alaska | 49.13 | 51 | 19 | 32 |
47 | Oklahoma | 48.93 | 30 | 44 | 44 |
48 | Georgia | 48.61 | 32 | 51 | 43 |
49 | West Virginia | 48.46 | 44 | 17 | 48 |
50 | Alabama | 48.19 | 21 | 50 | 47 |
51 | Mississippi | 46.01 | 25 | 39 | 51 |
Note: With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that state, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.