Cato Institute Ranks the 50 States August 16, 2016 Joseph Bishop-Henchman Joseph Bishop-Henchman 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 Tax Climate Index. The bottom three states are New York, Hawaii, and Illinois. Overall Fiscal Policy Regulatory Policy Personal Freedom 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. Stay informed on the tax policies impacting you. Subscribe to get insights from our trusted experts delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe Share Tweet Share Email Topics Center for State Tax Policy Business Taxes Individual and Consumption Taxes
