State scorecard
Alaska in the US Political Rank
Every place Alaska holds across our state rankings, in one scorecard. Economy, taxes, education, crime, healthcare, and more, each measured the same way for all 50 states and each linked to the full cited ranking.
#1
of 50 on States Ranked by Total Tax Burden
#50
of 25 on States Ranked by Business Climate: What the Major Raters Agree On
32.5%
Governor Mike Dunleavy performance score, rank 45 of 50
12
state rankings that score Alaska
Governor
Alaska's governor, Mike Dunleavy (Republican), holds performance rank 45 of 50 at 32.5% this week in the Governor Performance Rankings, scored on 263 metrics and updated every Monday.
| Ranking | Alaska's place | Score |
|---|---|---|
| States Ranked by Total Tax BurdenThe lowest tax burden in America at 4.6 percent of state income (Tax Foundation, calendar year 2022). Oil severance taxes paid largely by nonresidents carry the budget. | #1 of 50 | 95.8 |
| States Ranked by Dependence on Federal MoneyFederal funds were about 50 percent of state revenue in fiscal 2022, among the highest in the nation, and its per-capita balance of payments of 14,760 dollars ranked third best in 2023 (Pew, FY 2022; Rockefeller Institute, 2025). | #3 of 50 | 96.5 |
| States Ranked by Fiscal Health: Reserves, Pensions, and What They OweA $48,500 per-taxpayer surplus, second best in the nation (TIA, 2025), and 154.7 days of rainy day reserves (Pew, FY2025). The caveat: ALEC's risk-free math puts its pension liability per capita above $46,000 (ALEC), and everything rides on oil. | #6 of 20 | 88.7 |
| Ranking the 50 State Economies of 2026Tied for third-fastest 2025 GDP growth at 2.8 percent (BEA, 2026), the same year CNBC ranked it dead last for business, citing oil dependence (CNBC, 2025). The GDP data and the business-climate raters disagree, and both are cited here. | #11 of 50 | 83.0 |
| The 2026 Battleground States, RankedAll three major raters call the Sullivan-Peltola Senate race a Toss-up as of July 1, 2026, and term limits opened the governorship with a seventeen-candidate field (Cook Political Report, 2026; Inside Elections, 2026; Alaska Beacon, 2026). Ranked-choice voting has already produced one statewide Democratic win here, Peltola's 2022 House victory (official returns). | #12 of 15 | 6.6 |
| The Top 20 Energy-Producing StatesNorth Slope crude, roughly 492,000 barrels per day in 2023, moves through the Trans-Alaska Pipeline; large volumes of associated gas are reinjected rather than sold (EIA). | #13 of 20 | 6.5 |
| States Ranked by Health Care OutcomesExpanded Medicaid but carries high care costs and below-average life expectancy, with access limited by geography (Commonwealth Fund, 2025; CDC NCHS, 2023). | #31 of 50 | 72.4 |
| Voting With Their Feet: States Ranked by Migration and Population GrowthA persistent net domestic outflow in the Vintage 2025 estimates as residents leave for the Lower 48 (Census Bureau, 2025), even in a year the state tied for the third-fastest GDP growth (BEA, 2026). Out-migration and strong dollar output coexist. | #47 of 50 | 28.7 |
| States Ranked by Infrastructure ConditionThe worst-performing state highway system in the nation in the Reason Foundation's 29th Annual Highway Report (Reason Foundation). | #49 of 25 | 50.4 |
| States Ranked by K-12 Education OutcomesAmong the lowest fourth grade reading scores in the nation in 2024 (NCES, NAEP 2024). | #49 of 50 | 50.6 |
| States Ranked by Business Climate: What the Major Raters Agree OnCNBC's worst state for business in 2025, last in the Economy category as North Slope crude fell about 12 percent in a year (CNBC, 2025). The Tax Foundation, judging tax structure alone, has long scored Alaska near the top, the widest disagreement on the board (Tax Foundation, 2026). | #50 of 25 | 32.5 |
| States Ranked by Violent Crime RateThe highest reported violent crime rate of any state at 724.1 per 100,000, more than seven times Maine's rate, with the nation's highest reported rape rate as a long-running component (FBI, 2024). | #50 of 50 | 724.1 |
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