Annual Report · Published June 20, 2026
The 2026 State of Freedom Report
Every US state scored 0–100 across ten freedoms — constitutional rights, economic freedom, criminal justice, drug policy, and more — built from established, annually-updated third-party indexes. This is the full 2026 ranking, the headline findings, the data behind every score, and a dataset you can download and cite.
Key findings
- Utah is the freest state in 2026 at 74/100, followed by New Hampshire (73.7) and Montana (72.1).
- Hawaii ranks last at 40.9/100, with New York (41.3) and Delaware (43) close behind.
- The 50-state average is 57.6/100, and the gap between the freest and least-free state is 33.1 points.
- 2nd Amendment divides the country most — a 10-point spread between the strongest and weakest states — while 1st amendment is where states are most alike (2.5-point spread).
Who leads each freedom
No single state wins everything. Here is the top-scoring state in each of the ten freedoms in 2026.
The full 2026 ranking
All 50 states from freest to least free. District of Columbia is scored separately and excluded from the 1–50 ranking.
| Rank | State | Freedom score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utah | 74/100 | B |
| 2 | New Hampshire | 73.7/100 | B |
| 3 | Montana | 72.1/100 | B |
| 4 | North Dakota | 70.8/100 | B |
| 5 | Arizona | 69.3/100 | B- |
| 6 | South Dakota | 69/100 | B- |
| 7 | Missouri | 66.2/100 | B- |
| 8 | North Carolina | 65.4/100 | B- |
| 9 | Florida | 64.6/100 | C+ |
| 10 | Indiana | 64.2/100 | C+ |
| 11 | Minnesota | 63.6/100 | C+ |
| 12 | Tennessee | 62.9/100 | C+ |
| 13 | Wyoming | 62.8/100 | C+ |
| 14 | Idaho | 62.7/100 | C+ |
| 15 | Maine | 61.8/100 | C+ |
| 16 | Vermont | 61.3/100 | C+ |
| 17 | Kansas | 60.9/100 | C+ |
| 18 | Nevada | 60.7/100 | C+ |
| 19 | Oklahoma | 59.9/100 | C |
| 20 | Alaska | 59.7/100 | C |
| 21 | West Virginia | 59.2/100 | C |
| 22 | Texas | 58.9/100 | C |
| 23 | Georgia | 58.6/100 | C |
| 24 | Michigan | 57.9/100 | C |
| 25 | Ohio | 57.5/100 | C |
| 26 | Alabama | 57.5/100 | C |
| 27 | Virginia | 57.1/100 | C |
| 28 | Maryland | 56.4/100 | C |
| 29 | South Carolina | 56.3/100 | C |
| 30 | New Mexico | 56.3/100 | C |
| 31 | Iowa | 55.9/100 | C |
| 32 | Wisconsin | 55.7/100 | C |
| 33 | Pennsylvania | 55.6/100 | C |
| 34 | Nebraska | 55/100 | C |
| 35 | Rhode Island | 54.1/100 | C- |
| 36 | Colorado | 53.7/100 | C- |
| 37 | Connecticut | 53.5/100 | C- |
| 38 | Arkansas | 52.8/100 | C- |
| 39 | Louisiana | 52.5/100 | C- |
| 40 | Mississippi | 52.2/100 | C- |
| 41 | Washington | 51.6/100 | C- |
| 42 | Illinois | 50.3/100 | C- |
| 43 | Oregon | 50.1/100 | C- |
| 44 | Kentucky | 47.6/100 | D+ |
| 45 | New Jersey | 45.5/100 | D+ |
| 46 | Massachusetts | 44.1/100 | D |
| 47 | California | 43.9/100 | D |
| 48 | Delaware | 43/100 | D |
| 49 | New York | 41.3/100 | D |
| 50 | Hawaii | 40.9/100 | D |
How it’s scored: methodology & data sources
Each state is scored 0–10 on ten freedoms; the ten sum to a 0–100 overall score. Eight categories are anchored to independent published datasets; two (1st Amendment speech and religious liberty) are editorial and labeled as such. The full method is on the methodology page.
| Freedom | Source |
|---|---|
| 1st Amendment | FreedomRankings Editorial (no strong annual state-level source exists for 1st Amendment speech protections)(Editorial · 2025) |
| 2nd Amendment | Guns & Ammo "Best States for Gun Owners"(Guns & Ammo 2023 · edition pending) |
| 4th Amendment | Institute for Justice -- "Policing for Profit" (asset forfeiture grades)(Institute for Justice 2025) |
| Economic Freedom | Fraser Institute -- Economic Freedom of North America (EFNA)(Fraser Institute 2024 · edition pending) |
| Criminal Justice | Vera Institute -- "People in Prison" (annual incarceration data)(Vera Institute 2024 · edition pending) |
| Drug Policy | Per-state cannabis legality status (composite: NORML state pages, DISA legality map, NCSL medical cannabis tracker)(NORML / DISA / NCSL 2025) |
| Property Rights | Institute for Justice -- Eminent Domain / Castle Coalition(Institute for Justice 2025) |
| Religious Liberty | FreedomRankings Editorial (no strong annual state-level source exists for religious liberty rankings)(Editorial · 2025) |
| Education Choice | EdChoice -- "ABCs of School Choice"(EdChoice 2025) |
| Regulatory Burden | Mercatus Center -- RegData state regulatory restrictions(Mercatus Center 2024 · edition pending) |
Cite this report
Journalists, researchers, and writers are welcome to cite the report. Suggested citation:
FreedomRankings. "The 2026 State of Freedom Report." FreedomRankings, June 20, 2026. https://freedomrankings.com/reports/state-of-freedom-2026