freedomrankings.comProperty Rights
7 states tie for first in Property Rights at 9.5/10, including Florida, Michigan and New Hampshire. 3 states tie for last at 1.5/10: Arkansas, Massachusetts and New York. Each state is scored 0–10 on Property Rights from established, annually-updated third-party indexes.
Score reflects eminent-domain protections, land-use and zoning freedom, and regulatory takings. Greener = stronger; select any state for its full breakdown.
For property-rights freedom, 7 states tie for #1 at 9.5/10, including Florida, Michigan and New Hampshire — each typically a state with strong eminent-domain limits and lighter land-use restrictions. The full ranking is above.
Eminent domain is the government’s power to take private property for public use, with compensation. Since the 2005 Kelo decision, 47 states have strengthened protections against takings for private development.
On property-rights freedom, Arkansas, Massachusetts and New York tie for lowest; their shared score reflects weaker eminent-domain limits and heavier land-use and zoning restrictions.
The property-rights score draws on eminent-domain protections, the Institute for Justice’s reform grades, and land-use/zoning freedom measures. See the methodology page for sources.