Unpopular opinion: Florida isn’t always No. 1, contrary to what its residents believe in their heart of hearts. There are countless websites and reports that measure where we stand as a state + we’ve rounded up details to see how Florida compares.

Let’s start with the good news.

Bright Spots

From a 2019 US News & World Report (rankings out of 50), which used data from McKinsey Global Institute:

#2 in fiscal stability
#3 in education
#9 in economy
#14 in infrastructure

In other reports:

#1 in Best States for Singles.
#2 in 2019’s Most Fun States in America.
#2 in Best States for Military Retirees.
#3 in States with the Best Taxpayer ROI.
#4 in the 2019 business climate index for how well Florida’s tax systems are poised for generating economic growth.
#7 on Forbes’ 2018 list of the best states for business. Over the next five years, FL is expected to be ranked second best in the country.

And now for the bad news.

Florida comes in low in these categories.

Areas that need improvement

#21 in natural environment
#29 in health care
#31 in crime & corrections
#38 in opportunity

In other reports:

#29 in the 2018 state health rankings from the United Health Foundation. Florida struggles with a low rate of mental health providers + a high percentage of people who are uninsured.
#48 in 2019’s Safest States in America.

More rankings

#19 in 2019’s Best and Worst States to Drive In.
#22 in job diversification with the help of a growing manufacturing industry and an increased number of private-sector positions available. The Sunshine State also grew by 2% in job creation since June of 2017 (the national average is 1.6%).
#47 on WalletHub’s list as one of the states with the lowest tax burdens.

Poll

(function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(d.getElementById(id))return;js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src='https://embed.playbuzz.com/sdk.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}(document,'script','playbuzz-sdk'));

– LALtoday team (Jessica + Kaylee)