Texas finishes in the bottom third of states in new livability ranking

Texas ranks 37th among the 50 states in a new WalletHub study that measured livability metrics such as housing prices, personal income data, educational attainment, recreational facilities and health care quality.

The Lone Star State earned an overall score of 48.56 in the study, which made its evaluations on a 100-point scale. In comparison, No. 1 Massachusetts received a score of 61.67. Texas ranked ninth in the quality-of-life category and 34th for safety.

On affordability, Texas came in 34th, and the state was 32nd in the economy category and 38th on education and health, WalletHub reported.

In terms of net migration numbers, however, Texas in 2020 gained 26,245 residents, the second highest domestic population gain among the states, according to the Tampa Bay Economic Development Council.

The WalletHub analysis ranked the 50 states on 51 different metrics of livability, including statistics on types of attractions, recreational facilities and weather. Texas tied for first place in restaurants per capita, but the state was 49th in the share of the 25-and-older population with high school diplomas and last in the share of the population with health care insurance, the study says. 

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Most Livable States in 2023 

Overall Rank	State	Total Score	Affordability	Economy	Education & Health	Quality of Life	Safety
1	Massachusetts	61.67	44	11	1	6	6
2	New Jersey	61.48	48	33	7	11	1
3	New Hampshire	59.32	40	2	2	37	5
4	New York	59.31	47	28	23	1	3
5	Wyoming	59.16	10	17	28	39	4
6	Florida	58.81	33	14	17	5	15
7	Virginia	58.37	16	22	14	19	10
8	Idaho	58.36	13	7	26	23	9
9	Wisconsin	58.35	32	24	8	14	12
10	Minnesota	57.52	11	21	9	8	32
11	Iowa	57.1	20	27	11	16	20
12	Maine	57.08	35	9	13	28	8
13	Illinois	56.81	36	48	29	4	2
14	Pennsylvania	56.54	30	35	22	3	16
15	Utah	56.09	6	8	6	27	41
16	North Dakota	55.65	29	1	15	36	27
17	Vermont	55.53	43	4	3	45	11
18	Colorado	54.28	28	10	10	10	43
19	Montana	53.73	27	3	16	29	37
20	Kansas	53.11	25	19	27	22	26
21	South Dakota	52.93	22	6	31	40	23
22	Indiana	52.87	3	42	30	30	19
23	Nebraska	52.76	31	26	20	32	28
24	California	52.53	50	12	25	2	29
25	Michigan	52.09	14	46	33	12	21
26	Connecticut	52	45	43	5	20	13
27	Maryland	51.95	38	36	18	34	14
28	Washington	51.5	37	5	12	7	48
29	Rhode Island	51.18	46	23	19	44	7
30	Georgia	51.18	17	20	40	18	24
31	North Carolina	51.08	18	31	32	17	35
32	Delaware	50.65	21	38	21	47	25
33	Ohio	50.19	23	49	37	15	18
34	Missouri	49.96	4	29	34	25	40
35	Hawaii	48.75	49	13	4	42	36
36	Tennessee	48.67	8	30	36	33	38
37	Texas	48.56	34	32	38	9	34
38	Oregon	47.98	41	15	24	13	46
39	Arizona	47.62	24	16	41	24	39
40	Nevada	47.56	39	40	39	21	17
41	West Virginia	47.16	2	45	45	43	22
42	Kentucky	46.5	9	44	42	46	30
43	Alabama	46.3	1	41	46	41	33
44	South Carolina	43.12	12	34	44	26	49
45	Arkansas	42.04	5	39	43	48	47
46	Oklahoma	41.95	15	37	49	35	45
47	Mississippi	41.46	7	50	50	49	31
48	Louisiana	40.43	19	47	48	38	42
49	Alaska	40.3	42	18	35	50	44
50	New Mexico	39.86	26	25	47	31	50

Source: WalletHub.com