State scorecard
Ohio in the US Political Rank
Every place Ohio 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.
#5
of 25 on States Ranked by Business Climate: What the Major Raters Agree On
#36
of 50 on States Ranked by Health Care Outcomes
54.4%
Governor Mike DeWine performance score, rank 13 of 50
12
state rankings that score Ohio
Governor
Ohio's governor, Mike DeWine (Republican), holds performance rank 13 of 50 at 54.4% this week in the Governor Performance Rankings, scored on 263 metrics and updated every Monday.
| Ranking | Ohio's place | Score |
|---|---|---|
| The 2026 Battleground States, RankedA Trump plus 11 state hosting two premier statewide fights: the Husted-Brown Senate special is a Toss-up at Cook and Sabato, and the Ramaswamy-Acton governor race polled at 47-47 in July NYT/Siena data (Cook Political Report, 2026; Sabato's Crystal Ball, 2026; NBC4/NYT-Siena, 2026). Partisan lean and competitiveness are different measurements, and Ohio proves it this cycle. | #4 of 15 | 8.5 |
| States Ranked by Business Climate: What the Major Raters Agree OnFifth on CNBC's 2025 rankings (CNBC, 2025), and on January 1, 2026 its individual income tax moved to a flat 2.75 percent, a structural change the Tax Foundation's index rewards (Tax Foundation, 2026). | #5 of 25 | 91.4 |
| States Ranked by Infrastructure ConditionFifth overall in the Reason Foundation's 29th Annual Highway Report, the top performance among heavy-traffic northern states (Reason Foundation). | #7 of 25 | 92.5 |
| States Ranked by Housing AffordabilityRatios well under the national average across its major metros (Best Interest research, 2026), making Ohio the largest state economy in the most-affordable tier (CNBC ranked it No. 5 for business, 2025). | #8 of 25 | 89.4 |
| The Top 20 Energy-Producing StatesUtica Shale development has multiplied Ohio's natural gas production more than tenfold since 2012, moving a once-importing state into the production top ten (EIA). | #10 of 20 | 11.0 |
| Ranking the 50 State Economies of 2026Fifth on CNBC's 2025 Top States for Business (CNBC, 2025) and, in 2026, the 14th state to adopt a flat income tax (Tax Foundation, 2026). | #13 of 50 | 81.4 |
| Voting With Their Feet: States Ranked by Migration and Population GrowthNet domestic migration of 11,926 in 2025, a sharp turnaround from a loss of 32,482 in 2021, the Midwest reversal in one state's numbers (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025). | #17 of 50 | 73.1 |
| States Ranked by K-12 Education OutcomesAt or near the national average on the 2024 assessments, with the near-universal post-2019 reading slippage (NCES, NAEP 2024). | #20 of 50 | 83.0 |
| States Ranked by Violent Crime Rate293.7 per 100,000 with a murder rate of 5.0, exactly the national murder rate (FBI Crime Data Explorer, 2024). | #22 of 50 | 293.7 |
| States Ranked by Dependence on Federal MoneyA large Medicaid program keeps the federal share of state revenue close to the national average (Pew, 2025). | #22 of 50 | 73.5 |
| States Ranked by Total Tax BurdenBecame the 14th flat-tax state in 2026 (Tax Foundation, 2026), a structural improvement, though property and local taxes keep the total burden near the national middle (Tax Foundation, 2022). | #30 of 50 | 68.1 |
| States Ranked by Health Care OutcomesA lower-middle state with below-average life expectancy and high overdose mortality despite expanding Medicaid (Commonwealth Fund, 2025; CDC NCHS, 2023). | #36 of 50 | 68.4 |
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