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Whether it’s the beautiful scenery or affordable living, South Carolina is becoming increasingly popular and is currently the nation’s top moving destination.
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However, even though SC has been in the news more recently and people are flocking to the state, not everything is perfect. The State recently reported that a study ranked SC as one of the worst places to move to, based on its rankings in safety, health care, education, and quality of life.
Now, U.S. News & World Report, a leading consumer news company, has released its 2026 Best States report, highlighting each state’s best and worst qualities.
SC didn’t make it close to the top, but it has improved in several areas and even jumped past a significant number of states compared to last year, showing signs that the Palmetto State is heading in the right direction.
Here’s where SC ranked in this year’s report and why:
SC’s latest state ranking
The best states in U.S. News & World Report rank highly across the eight categories the news company used in this ranking. The categories include: Crime & Corrections, Education, Healthcare, Natural Environment, Economy, Fiscal Stability, Infrastructure and Opportunity.
SC ranked very poorly in some of the categories, but ranked closer to the top in others, placing 32nd in the country overall. Last year, SC ranked 40th in the country, showing that the state has taken steps to improve but still has much to work on.
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These are SC’s specific rankings for each category:
- Crime and Corrections: 42nd
- Education: 42nd
- Healthcare: 28th
- Natural Environment: 23rd
- Economy: 6th
- Fiscal Stability: 23rd
- Infrastructure: 29th
- Opportunity: 35th
Top and bottom states
U.S. News & World Report said these 10 states are the best in the country, as of this year. The states scored highly across each category and perform well for their citizens.
- Utah
- South Dakota
- Minnesota
- North Dakota
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- Idaho
- Florida
- Washington
- Vermont
These are the worst states in the country, according to the report.
- Louisiana
- Alaska
- Mississippi
- New Mexico
- Michigan
- Arkansas
- West Virginia
- Alabama
- Ohio
- Kentucky
Methodology
The Best States rankings assess the performance of the 50 U.S. states using 71 metrics across eight categories.
Rankings across these categories are based on a three-year data analysis from national surveys that asked tens of thousands of people to prioritize various issue areas in their state. The categories’ assigned weights are based on these surveys.
Education and Health care are the most influential categories in this report. Here are the categories and their weights:
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- Education: 15.79%
- Healthcare: 15.51%
- Economy: 12.88%
- Infrastructure: 12.74%
- Opportunity: 12.2%
- Fiscal Stability: 12.19%
- Natural Environment: 9.69%
- Crime and Corrections: 9.01%