Utah makes top 10 ‘best states to live in,’ according to WalletHub

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Utah has managed to make the top 10 list of WalletHub’s 2025 “Best States to Live In” study. The Beehive State ranked high for its education and health systems and affordability.

The recent study by WalletHub compared the 50 states across five key dimensions: affordability, economy, education and health, quality of life, and safety. Based on all of those metrics combined, they ranked the following states as their top 10 best states to live in.

1. Massachusetts
2. Idaho
3. New Jersey
4. Wisconsin
5. Minnesota
6. Florida
7. New Hampshire
8. Utah
9. New York
10. Pennsylvania

The Beehive State was ranked as the eighth-best state to live in this year overall. When it came to the different dimensions, such as affordability and economy, Utah was more all over the place. When measured against other states, Utah was the sixth most affordable state to live in, based on metrics like median household income, median property taxes, and the overall cost of living.

For the economy dimension, Utah was 19th compared to other states, based on metrics like unemployment rates, population growth, share of population living in poverty, and job opportunities. Although the Beehive State ranked lower in this category, Utah was determined to have the second-lowest percentage of the population living in poverty out of all 50 states.

The dimension where Utah shone was education and health, ranking second overall in the U.S., falling only behind Massachusetts. This ranking was determined by weighing factors like high school graduation rate, life expectancy, and quality of public hospitals and schools. Utah has previously ranked high when it came to the best school systems in the U.S.

Utah’s lowest score was in quality of life, according to WalletHub’s study. Utah was 29th for quality of life, which was scored based on average work hours per week, average commute time, recreational activities, and traffic congestion. Despite the state’s low quality of life ranking, Utah was noted as having the lowest average weekly work hours out of all 50 states.

Another low score for Utah was safety, where the state ranked 23rd. This dimension was measure based on four factors: violent crime rate, property crime rate, traffic-related fatalities per capita, and total law enforcement employees per capita. While many would consider Utah a safe state compared to most of the U.S., there’s not doubt that the Beehive State faces a high number of road and traffic fatalities due to summer travel and winter conditions.

To learn more about this study’s methodology or view how other states measured up, you can view WalletHub’s “Best States to Live In” study here.