State scorecard
Utah in the US Political Rank
Every place Utah 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 25 on States Ranked by Infrastructure Condition
#43
of 25 on States Ranked by Housing Affordability
69.6%
Governor Spencer Cox performance score, rank 1 of 50
11
state rankings that score Utah
Governor
Utah's governor, Spencer Cox (Republican), holds performance rank 1 of 50 at 69.6% this week in the Governor Performance Rankings, scored on 263 metrics and updated every Monday.
| Ranking | Utah's place | Score |
|---|---|---|
| States Ranked by Infrastructure ConditionHolds a C+ from ASCE's 2025 state report card, tied for the highest overall grade ever given a state, with roads graded B+ and bridges B (ASCE Utah Section, 2025). | #1 of 25 | 100.0 |
| States Ranked by Fiscal Health: Reserves, Pensions, and What They OweA $14,400 per-taxpayer surplus (TIA, 2025) and membership in the small club of states rated AAA by S&P Global Ratings. Utah pairs fast growth with old-fashioned balance-sheet discipline. | #3 of 20 | 93.1 |
| Ranking the 50 State Economies of 2026Tied for the third-fastest real GDP growth in 2025 at 2.8 percent (BEA, 2026) and grew its population 1.0 percent in the year ending July 2025 (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025). | #4 of 50 | 90.7 |
| Voting With Their Feet: States Ranked by Migration and Population GrowthGrew 1.0 percent in the year ending July 2025, among the five fastest states, sustained by both in-migration and the nation's strongest natural increase from births (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025). | #6 of 50 | 89.5 |
| States Ranked by K-12 Education OutcomesAmong the top five states in eighth grade math on the 2024 assessment, achieved with one of the lowest per-pupil spending levels in the country (Learning Policy Institute, 2025; NCES). | #6 of 50 | 93.9 |
| States Ranked by Violent Crime Rate229.6 per 100,000, with murder rates that run near the bottom of the state table (FBI Crime Data Explorer, 2024). | #13 of 50 | 229.6 |
| States Ranked by Health Care OutcomesAmong the nation's lowest rates of smoking and premature death, and a top-three state on the Commonwealth Fund's 2025 Medicare beneficiary scorecard (CDC; Commonwealth Fund, 2025). | #15 of 50 | 85.2 |
| The Top 20 Energy-Producing StatesA balanced fossil portfolio of coal, crude oil from the Uinta Basin, and natural gas, with utility-scale solar growing fastest (EIA). | #17 of 20 | 5.0 |
| States Ranked by Total Tax BurdenA flat individual income tax and a moderate overall burden (Tax Foundation, 2026). Utah pairs a lean tax structure with AAA credit and disciplined budgeting (S&P Global Ratings). | #22 of 50 | 74.3 |
| States Ranked by Dependence on Federal MoneyA young, high-employment population and heavy federal land holdings produce a per-capita balance of payments only modestly positive (Rockefeller Institute, 2025). | #38 of 50 | 54.8 |
| States Ranked by Housing AffordabilityOne of the nation's strongest economies now carries a price-to-income ratio far above the healthy band, the cost of a decade of in-migration (Visual Capitalist, 2026). Permitting is strong but still catching up (Census Bureau BPS, 2025). | #43 of 25 | 40.9 |
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