freedomrankings.com2026 Freedom Index · Updated October 2026
As of October 2026, the freest US states on the FreedomRankings index are Utah (#1, 74/100), New Hampshire (#2, 73.7/100), Montana (#3, 72.1/100), North Dakota (#4, 70.8/100), Arizona (#5, 69.3/100). The least free are Hawaii, New York, Delaware, California, Massachusetts. Each of the 50 states below is scored 0–100 across ten freedoms — 1st, 2nd, and 4th Amendment rights, economic freedom, criminal justice, drug policy, property rights, religious liberty, education choice, and regulatory burden — using established, annually-updated third-party indexes.
Below are the top 10 states by overall freedom score — expand the list for the full 2026 ranking of all 50. Tap any state for its full category breakdown, representatives, and voting records — or use the interactive tool further down to re-weight the categories and build your own personalized ranking. See the methodology for how each score is calculated and sourced, or read the full 2026 State of Freedom Report.
The summary above and both rankings on this page follow the source you pick. How each is built
Default. Eight categories come from named outside publishers such as Fraser and NORML. Two are editorial.
| Rank | State | Freedom score | Grade | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utah | 74/100 | B | +8.6 |
| 2 | New Hampshire | 73.7/100 | B | -10.1 |
| 3 | Montana | 72.1/100 | B | +2.1 |
| 4 | North Dakota | 70.8/100 | B | +13.0 |
| 5 | Arizona | 69.3/100 | B- | -13.3 |
| 6 | South Dakota | 69/100 | B- | -1.8 |
| 7 | Missouri | 66.2/100 | B- | -1.8 |
| 8 | North Carolina | 65.4/100 | B- | +16.8 |
| 9 | Florida | 64.6/100 | C+ | +1.0 |
| 10 | Indiana | 64.2/100 | C+ | +9.8 |
| Rank | State | Freedom score | Grade | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Minnesota | 63.6/100 | C+ | +10.2 |
| 12 | Tennessee | 62.9/100 | C+ | +18.5 |
| 13 | Wyoming | 62.8/100 | C+ | +18.6 |
| 14 | Idaho | 62.7/100 | C+ | +19.7 |
| 15 | Maine | 61.8/100 | C+ | -6.0 |
| 16 | Vermont | 61.3/100 | C+ | -5.3 |
| 17 | Kansas | 60.9/100 | C+ | +16.5 |
| 18 | Nevada | 60.7/100 | C+ | -8.9 |
| 19 | Oklahoma | 59.9/100 | C | +14.7 |
| 20 | Alaska | 59.7/100 | C | +5.1 |
| 21 | West Virginia | 59.2/100 | C | +3.4 |
| 22 | Texas | 58.9/100 | C | +29.1 |
| 23 | Georgia | 58.6/100 | C | +14.0 |
| 24 | Michigan | 57.9/100 | C | +5.3 |
| 25 | Ohio | 57.5/100 | C | +8.3 |
| 26 | Alabama | 57.5/100 | C | +20.5 |
| 27 | Virginia | 57.1/100 | C | +0.7 |
| 28 | Maryland | 56.4/100 | C | +14.0 |
| 29 | South Carolina | 56.3/100 | C | +26.7 |
| 30 | New Mexico | 56.3/100 | C | -11.3 |
| 31 | Iowa | 55.9/100 | C | -3.3 |
| 32 | Wisconsin | 55.7/100 | C | -8.1 |
| 33 | Pennsylvania | 55.6/100 | C | +2.4 |
| 34 | Nebraska | 55/100 | C | +14.2 |
| 35 | Rhode Island | 54.1/100 | C- | +8.1 |
| 36 | Colorado | 53.7/100 | C- | -5.1 |
| 37 | Connecticut | 53.5/100 | C- | -5.3 |
| 38 | Arkansas | 52.8/100 | C- | +15.0 |
| 39 | Louisiana | 52.5/100 | C- | +16.7 |
| 40 | Mississippi | 52.2/100 | C- | +17.2 |
| 41 | Washington | 51.6/100 | C- | +5.6 |
| 42 | Illinois | 50.3/100 | C- | +4.7 |
| 43 | Oregon | 50.1/100 | C- | +1.1 |
| 44 | Kentucky | 47.6/100 | D+ | +13.8 |
| 45 | New Jersey | 45.5/100 | D+ | +19.5 |
| 46 | Massachusetts | 44.1/100 | D | -5.3 |
| 47 | California | 43.9/100 | D | -9.1 |
| 48 | Delaware | 43/100 | D | +15.8 |
| 49 | New York | 41.3/100 | D | +6.3 |
| 50 | Hawaii | 40.9/100 | D | +10.9 |
The same 50 states ranked on one freedom at a time, each with its own map, top and bottom five, and sourced methodology notes.