The Cato Institute this week released Freedom in the 50 States, a report that ranks the states on three areas:
- Fiscal policy: taxes, government employment, spending, debt, and fiscal decentralization
- Regulatory policy: liability system, property rights, health insurance, and labor market
- Personal freedom: a variety of categories including incarceration rates, marriage laws, education, guns, and alcohol
Overall, Cato puts New Hampshire, Alaska, Oklahoma, Indiana, and South Dakota as the most free; at the other end of the list are New York, California, Hawaii, New Jersey, and Maryland.
The fiscal policy metric is more than just taxes, of course, but taxes are evidently a strong factor for that area. The top three states for fiscal policy are New Hampshire, Tennessee, and South Dakota, all of which rank highly in our State Business TaxA tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities. Climate Index. The bottom three states are New York, Hawaii, and Illinois.
Overall |
Fiscal
|
Regulatory
|
Personal
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 1 | 1 | 29 | 9 |
| Alaska | 2 | 11 | 18 | 7 |
| Oklahoma | 3 | 5 | 10 | 30 |
| Indiana | 4 | 26 | 2 | 6 |
| South Dakota | 5 | 3 | 7 | 46 |
| Tennessee | 6 | 2 | 13 | 42 |
| Idaho | 7 | 8 | 1 | 45 |
| Florida | 8 | 4 | 19 | 36 |
| Iowa | 9 | 30 | 5 | 12 |
| Arizona | 10 | 16 | 20 | 14 |
| Colorado | 11 | 22 | 25 | 2 |
| Nevada | 12 | 25 | 22 | 3 |
| North Dakota | 13 | 15 | 6 | 35 |
| Wyoming | 14 | 21 | 3 | 32 |
| South Carolina | 15 | 23 | 12 | 19 |
| Kansas | 16 | 33 | 4 | 24 |
| Montana | 17 | 7 | 30 | 21 |
| Missouri | 18 | 9 | 24 | 28 |
| North Carolina | 19 | 17 | 26 | 13 |
| Utah | 20 | 20 | 9 | 33 |
| Virginia | 21 | 12 | 23 | 34 |
| Georgia | 22 | 14 | 14 | 43 |
| Alabama | 23 | 6 | 16 | 48 |
| Michigan | 24 | 18 | 15 | 38 |
| Nebraska | 25 | 32 | 8 | 40 |
| Pennsylvania | 26 | 13 | 37 | 23 |
| Wisconsin | 27 | 37 | 17 | 25 |
| Texas | 28 | 10 | 27 | 49 |
| Arkansas | 29 | 27 | 21 | 41 |
| New Mexico | 30 | 42 | 38 | 1 |
| Delaware | 31 | 29 | 33 | 31 |
| Washington | 32 | 35 | 43 | 5 |
| Massachusetts | 33 | 36 | 39 | 11 |
| Louisiana | 34 | 19 | 35 | 39 |
| Ohio | 35 | 24 | 31 | 44 |
| Mississippi | 36 | 41 | 11 | 47 |
| Oregon | 37 | 39 | 36 | 18 |
| Minnesota | 38 | 45 | 34 | 8 |
| West Virginia | 39 | 31 | 42 | 22 |
| Vermont | 40 | 47 | 32 | 10 |
| Kentucky | 41 | 28 | 28 | 50 |
| Maine | 42 | 43 | 44 | 4 |
| Rhode Island | 43 | 38 | 45 | 17 |
| Illinois | 44 | 48 | 40 | 20 |
| Connecticut | 45 | 44 | 46 | 15 |
| Maryland | 46 | 34 | 49 | 26 |
| New Jersey | 47 | 40 | 47 | 27 |
| Hawaii | 48 | 49 | 41 | 37 |
| California | 49 | 46 | 48 | 16 |
| New York | 50 | 50 | 50 | 29 |
The report is by William Ruger and Jason Sorens, and is an updated version of a similar study they used to do for the Mercatus Center.
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