With talent in short supply and the nation’s workforce more mobile than ever, companies are seeking to locate in places where workers want to live. That makes quality of life an economic issue. And state economic development organizations are leaning into that as they pitch their states to business.
“Connecticut is one state with a whole lot of everything,” the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development declares on its website, which goes on to tout the state’s “good quality of life” more than half a dozen times.
“New Mexico offers a place your employees will love and want to stay,” its state economic development website says.
“The good life is calling,” says Nebraska.
But where is the best life? CNBC’s annual competitiveness study, America’s Top States for Business, is here to find out. Because quality of life has become so essential in attracting quality talent, we consider it among ten categories of competitiveness. While any state can say it is a great place to live, we put those claims to the test using empirical data.
The category considers factors including the crime rate, air quality, and the cost and availability of child care. We also consider legal protections for workers, and protections against discrimination. And with data showing younger workers considering reproductive rights in their choice of where they are willing to live, we factor those state laws in our rankings as well.
Under this year’s methodology, Quality of Life represents 10.6% of a state’s total Top States score.
Some states do not measure up well when it comes to quality of life. But these states are America’s most desirable places to live and work in.
8. (tie) Virginia
A pedestrian jogs along the George Washington Memorial Parkway at sunrise in Arlington, Virginia, on June 24, 2025.
Tom Brenner | The Washington Post | Getty Images
With some 2.6 million people packed into just 1,300 square miles, Northern Virginia is certainly crowded. But it often doesn’t feel that way.
Crime in the commonwealth is on the low side despite its size. And Virginians are healthy, ranking in the top ten nationally for frequent exercise, according to the United Health Foundation.
Virginia’s air quality is generally good, with only Arlington and Fairfax Counties in the D.C. Metro area receiving poor grades for ozone pollution, according to the American Lung Association.
But child care can be scarce, with just about 1,500 licensed centers in a state of 8.8 million people, according to Child Care Aware of America. It can also be pricey, at about 11% of median income for a two-income household.
2025 Quality of Life Score: 167 out of 265 Points (Top States Grade: B-)
Strengths: Air Quality, Health, Low Crime Rate
Weakness: Child Care
8. (tie) Nebraska
Men walking in field landscape near Hastings, Nebraska.
Adam C Bartlett | Connect Images | Getty Images
Life in the heartland is as healthy and wholesome as it is cracked up to be, at least by the numbers in The Cornhusker State. With only 3,372 violent offenses in 2023 in a state of nearly two million people, according to FBI statistics, the crime rate is the sixth lowest in the nation.
Nebraska also ranks in the top five states for clean air, based on data from the American Lung Association and the non-profit First Street Foundation.
And Nebraskans are healthy, with among the lowest incidences of mental and physical distress, and the second lowest rate of drug deaths, according to the United Health Foundation.
But child care is relatively scarce, and expensive. Nebraska has just 864 licensed child care centers, and child care costs, on average, 15% of the median income for a two-parent household. State law bars private insurance coverage for abortions, which are banned after 12 weeks.
2025 Quality of Life Score: 167 out of 265 Points (Top States Grade: B-)
Strengths: Air Quality, Health, Low Crime Rate
Weaknesses: Child Care, Reproductive Rights
8. (tie) Massachusetts
A woman gets an acupuncture treatment from an oncology acupuncturist, Dongyan Yu, at The Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies and Healthy Living at Dana-Farber on June 9, 2025.
Stan Grossfeld | The Boston Globe | Getty Images
The Bay State is America’s healthiest, with the lowest incidence of premature death, according to the United Health Foundation. It might have to do with the fact that Massachusetts ranks No. 1 in primary care doctors and mental health providers per capita, not to mention number two for dentists. Just 2.6% of Massachusetts residents lack health insurance — the lowest percentage in the country — compared to nearly 8% nationally.
Massachusetts is a leader in worker protections, according to Oxfam America’s annual scorecard on Best and Worst States to Work in the U.S. — particularly when it comes to guaranteeing the right to organize.
However, air quality is poor, and child care, while more accessible than in many states, is expensive.
2025 Quality of Life Score: 167 out of 265 Points (Top States Grade: B-)
Strengths: Health, Worker Protections
Weaknesses: Air Quality, Child Care
7. North Dakota
Halbergman | E+ | Getty Images
No state offers more accessible and affordable child care than The Peace Garden State, with 462 licensed child care centers in a state of fewer than 800,000 people. A two-income household making the median income can expect to spend only about 9% of it on child care.
Add the fact that crime is low and the air is clean, and you get a relatively stress-free environment. North Dakotans report the second-lowest incidences of mental and physical distress in the nation. The state also has the second-lowest level of food insecurity in the nation.
But while North Dakota excels in feeding its families, it does not score well in protecting its workers.
North Dakota ranks 40th on the Oxfam scorecard, meeting just three of the 16 criteria the organization sets for worker protection. While state law requires equal pay across gender and race, and it includes protections against sexual harassment and child labor, it does not allow for things like paid family and sick leave. Nor does the state extend protections to agricultural workers, domestic workers, or warehouse workers.
2025 Quality of Life Score: 171 out of 265 Points (Top States Grade: B)
Strengths: Child Care, Health, Air Quality, Low Crime Rate
Weakness: Worker Protections
6. Hawaii
A mother and toddler play along the shores of Ho’okipa Beach in Maui.
Yiming Chen | Moment | Getty Images
How could a paradise like The Aloha State not finish at the very top of a state quality of life ranking? Crime is low, the environment is pristine, and Hawaii prides itself on its welcoming, Aloha spirit. The problem is that the state fails badly when it comes to caring for its keiki, the affectionate Hawaiian term for children.
Hawaii has just 544 licensed child care centers in a state of 1.8 million people. Those who can get their children into child care will pay dearly for it — 18% of median income for a two-income household, the highest in the nation.
Ready Keiki, a multi-faceted state plan established in 2023, aims to ensure pre-school access for all 3 and 4-year-olds by 2032. It still has a long way to go.
Hawaii also has health issues. While the vast majority of Hawaiians have health insurance, the state ranks 34th in primary care physicians per capita.
2025 Quality of Life Score: 173 out of 265 Points (Top States Grade: B)
Strengths: Low Crime Rate, Air Quality, Inclusiveness
Weaknesses: Child Care, Health Care
5. Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut.
Ashley Rk Smith | Istock | Getty Images
When choosing a place to live, you won’t find one that is much safer or healthier than The Nutmeg State.
With just 5,573 violent offenses in a state of 3.6 million people in 2023, Connecticut had the fourth lowest crime rate in the nation. The United Health Foundation ranks the state 5th for overall health, with low instances of physical and mental stress, and one of the nation’s lowest obesity rates. However, the state has seen a 235% increase in drug deaths since 2007.
The state has robust worker protections and inclusive state laws. But it also has America’s worst air quality, with high levels of both ozone and particulate matter.
2025 Quality of Life Score: 179 out of 265 Points (Top States Grade: B)
Strengths: Low Crime Rate, Health, Inclusiveness
Weakness: Air Quality
4. Minnesota
Mayo Clinic, Siebens building in Rochester, Minnesota.
Bernard Friel | UCG | Universal Images Group | Getty Images
In The Land of 10,000 Lakes, people pride themselves on being “Minnesota nice,” and that applies to pretty much everyone. Minnesotans enjoy broad protections against discrimination, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Worker rights and reproductive rights are strong as well. In 2023, a year before he became a household name as the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee, Gov. Tim Walz signed into law the Protect Reproductive Options (PRO) Act, which codifies access to abortion and reproductive health care as a fundamental right.
The home of the renowned Mayo Clinic, Minnesota has an outstanding health system. The state ranks 7th in primary physicians per capita, and it has among the lowest percentages of people without health insurance.
But Minnesota does not do as well in child care, with only about 1,800 licensed child care centers in a state of nearly 6 million people. Child care in Minnesota eats up, on average, 14% of a two-parent household’s income, according to Child Care Aware of America.
2025 Quality of Life Score: 189 out of 265 Points (Top States Grade: B+)
Strengths: Inclusiveness, Worker Protections, Reproductive Rights, Health
Weakness: Child Care
3. New Jersey
People walk on the Broadwalk on May 25, 2025 in Seaside Heights, New Jersey.
Kena Betancur | Getty Images
The Garden State has always been the butt of jokes. But by the numbers, it is an outstanding place to live. New Jersey has the ninth lowest violent crime rate in the nation. In 2023, the state saw its fewest number of murders in more than 40 years, according to FBI statistics.
New Jersey is a healthy state, with the smallest percentage of adults with multiple chronic conditions, and has the second lowest rate of premature deaths, according to the United Health Foundation.
But one area where New Jersey does live down to its reputation is air quality — the third worst in the nation, based on data from the American Lung Association and the non-profit First Street Foundation.
2025 Quality of Life Score: 201 out of 265 Points (Top States Grade: A-)
Strengths: Low Crime Rate, Health, Inclusiveness
Weakness: Air Quality
2. Maine
Daniel Grill/tetra Images | Tetra Images | Getty Images
No state is safer than The Pine Tree State. With just 1,458 violent offenses in a state of 1.4 million people, Mainers enjoy America’s lowest crime rate.
Maine is also a welcoming state. It earned a near-perfect score from the Movement Advancement Project, a non-profit think tank that studies state policies affecting the LGBTQ+ population. But it also earned the ire of the Trump administration, which unsuccessfully tried to block school lunch funding over the state’s refusal to bar transgender girls from girls’ sports.
At the same time, drug deaths have nearly tripled in Maine since 2013, and residents report high incidences of physical and mental stress.
2025 Quality of Life Score: 207 out of 265 Points (Top States Grade: A)
Strengths: Low Crime Rate, Inclusiveness, Air Quality
Weakness: Health
1. Vermont
Stowe, Vermont.
Jimfeng | E+ | Getty Images
The Green Mountain State marks its fifth consecutive year on top of the Quality of Life category in CNBC’s Top States for Business study. The crime rate is among the lowest in the nation, the air is pristine, and Vermonters are healthy — although, as in neighboring Maine, the state has seen an uptick in drug deaths.
Vermont state laws are inclusive and welcoming. The state offers broad protections against discrimination of all kinds. No state is more protective of reproductive rights than Vermont, which in 2022 became the first state to enshrine them in its constitution.
Vermont is also among the easiest states to vote in, according to the Election Law Journal. The state offers 45 days of early voting, and all are eligible to vote by mail. Photo ID is required for those registering for the first time.
2025 Quality of Life Score: 228 out of 265 Points (Top States Grade: A+)
Strengths: Reproductive Rights, Inclusiveness, Health, Air Quality
Weaknesses: None. (Vermont finished in the top ten in all but two Quality of Life metrics, and no lower than 15th.)
