Florida’s #1 For Education and Economy – Florida's 2024 Rankings

Florida’s #1 For Education and Economy – Florida's 2024 Rankings 

Bottom Line: On Tuesday US News and World Report produced their annual state rankings which compares states across eight categories: crime & corrections, economy, education, fiscal stability, health care, infrastructure, environment and opportunity. Within each of those categories there are also multiple components that come together in creating the overall state score. This year Florida ranks as the 9th top rated state overall across all categories. That’s up a spot from a year ago and is the highest overall rating Florida has had in the annual study. While ranking 9th overall is a strong performance for Florida it doesn’t really tell the broader story. Florida ranks above average in six categories, is average in one category and is number one in what most surveys would suggest are the two most important categories of all – education and the economy. Florida’s overall ranking is weighed down with a poor performance in one category – opportunity – so let’s start there.  

Florida’s opportunity ranking this year is #45 (which is actually up a spot from a year ago). That’s due to two reasons. Florida’s average cost of living is shown to be 2.1% higher than the national average, while the state’s median household income is shown to be about $5,000 lower than the national average. These very real affordability challenges are knowns. The better news is that Florida has been consistently seeing incomes rise faster than the national average which has helped and should continue to help going forward given that Florida continues to have the best overall economy in the country. So, about the economy... 

Florida’s economy is the top performing in the country due to having one of the best business environments in the country, with one of the top growth rates in the country. Importantly, while Florida’s economy is known to been driven by net migration, the job growth rate is what’s really driving the state’s economy. Florida’s net migration growth rate was 1.7% while the state’s growth rate was 4.8% - almost double the national average. That's consistently driving wages higher and is a great sign going forward. As for education... 

Just as Florida’s economy ranked first, improving over last year, so too was the case in Education. Florida’s higher education ranking was number one, but for the first time, Florida’s Pre-K-12 ranking was in the top ten. As for the other categories Florida ranked... 

• Crime & Corrections: 13th 
• Environment: 13th  
• Fiscal Stability: 20th 
• Infrastructure: 20th  
• Health Care: 26th  

The bottom line is that Florida’s story remains a good one that’s evidenced to be consistently improving.