United Health Foundation released its 2022 America's Health Rankings Dec. 6, which analyzes the overall health of the 50 states and marks the return of the rankings after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
UHF is the nonprofit, private foundation established by UnitedHealth Group in 1999. It excluded the ranking of states by overall health in 2020 and 2021 "out of a shared understanding of the significant and unprecedented health challenges presented by the pandemic." For the 2022 rankings, UHF analyzed 51 measures across five categories of health: social and economic factors, physical environment, behaviors, clinical care and health outcomes.
New Hampshire came out on top for 2022, ranking in the top quintile across four of the categories: social and economic factors (No. 1), clinical care (No. 4), behaviors (No. 1) and health outcomes (No. 6). Four of the five top-ranking states are found on the East Coast.
Louisiana trailed the nation and has the most room for improved health in 2022, ranking in the bottom quintiles across all five measured categories. All of the five bottom-ranking states are found in the South.
Below are the 2022 state rankings. Summaries containing a breakdown of each state's performance in individual categories or measures can be found here. The complete 44-page annual report from UHF can be found here.
1. New Hampshire
2. Massachusetts
3. Vermont
4. Connecticut
4. Hawaii
6. Minnesota
7. Utah
8. Maryland
9. Washington
10. Colorado
11. Rhode Island
12. Maine
13. New Jersey
14. Virginia
15. Iowa
16. Nebraska
17. Idaho
18. Oregon
19. North Dakota
20. Delaware
21. Wisconsin
22. California
23. New York
24. South Dakota
25. Pennsylvania
26. Illinois
27. Florida
28. Montana
29. Michigan
30. North Carolina
31. Kansas
32. Arizona
33. Wyoming
34. Alaska
35. Indiana
36. Georgia
37. Ohio
38. Texas
39. Missouri
40. New Mexico
41. South Carolina
42. Nevada
43. Kentucky
44. Tennessee
45. Oklahoma
46. Alabama
47. West Virginia
48. Arkansas
49. Mississippi
50. Louisiana