Washington ranked as top state, Louisiana, Alabama last in US News rankings

A new U.S. News & World Report ranking published Tuesday named Washington the best state to live and Louisiana the worst. 

The list determined that Washington, New Hampshire and Minnesota are the best states while Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana are the worst. 

{mosads}The list factored in states’ health care, education, economy, infrastructure, public safety, opportunity and the fiscal stability of its state government, among other factors.

It also gave each factor different weight depending on how much respondents to a survey said they mattered. Health care and education were given the greatest weight. 

Washington did not rank best among any of the factors evaluated, with Hawaii having the best health care and Massachusetts having the best education, but had consistently high rankings in several factors. 

Mississippi, ranked 48th overall was determined to have the worst health care, and Alabama, ranked 49th, was determined to have the worst education system.

U.S. News & World Report is known for ranking various institutions, including its yearly ranking of best colleges in the U.S.