Rankings - Overall

                                                                                    1. New Hampshire
                                                                                    2. Oklahoma
                                                                                    3. Indiana
                                                                                    4. South Dakota
                                                                                    5. Alaska
                                                                                    6. Tennessee
                                                                                    7. Idaho
                                                                                    8. Florida
                                                                                    9. Iowa
                                                                                    10. Colorado
                                                                                    11. Nevada
                                                                                    12. North Dakota
                                                                                    13. Wyoming
                                                                                    14. Arizona
                                                                                    15. South Carolina
                                                                                    16. Kansas
                                                                                    17. Montana
                            

                                                        18. Missouri
                                                                                    19. North Carolina
                                                                                    20. Utah
                                                                                    21. Virginia
                                                                                    22. Georgia
                                                                                    23. Alabama
                                                                                    24. Michigan
                                                                                    25. Nebraska
                                                                                    26. Pennsylvania
                                                                                    27. Wisconsin
                                                                                    28. Texas
                                                                                    29. Arkansas
                                                                                    30. New Mexico
                                                                                    31. Delaware
                                                                                    32. Washington
                                                                                    33. Massachusetts
                                                                                    34. Louisiana
                            

                                                        35. Ohio
                                                                                    36. Mississippi
                                                                                    37. Minnesota
                                                                                    38. Oregon
                                                                                    39. West Virginia
                                                                                    40. Vermont
                                                                                    41. Kentucky
                                                                                    42. Maine
                                                                                    43. Rhode Island
                                                                                    44. Illinois
                                                                                    45. Connecticut
                                                                                    46. Maryland
                                                                                    47. New Jersey
                                                                                    48. Hawaii
                                                                                    49. California
                                                                                    50. New York
                                                                                

Map view

Freedom in the 50 States

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We happily concede that different people value aspects of freedom differently. You can personalize the ranking and pick and choose which aspects of freedom you value and see how the states stack up.

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How the Rankings Are Calculated

We score all 50 states on over 200 policies encompassing fiscal policy, regulatory policy, and personal freedom. We weight public policies according to the estimated costs that government restrictions on freedom impose on their victims.

The Authors

William P. Ruger

William P. Ruger is Vice President of Policy and Research at the Charles Koch Institute and Charles Koch Foundation. Ruger is the author of the biography Milton Friedman and a coauthor of The State of Texas: Government, Politics, and Policy. His work has been published in International Studies Quarterly, State Politics and Policy Quarterly, Armed Forces and Society, and other outlets. Ruger earned an AB from the College of William and Mary and a PhD in politics from Brandeis University. He is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan.

Jason Sorens

Jason Sorens is Lecturer in the Department of Government at Dartmouth College. His primary research interests include fiscal federalism, public policy in federal systems, secessionism, and ethnic politics. His work has been published in International Studies Quarterly, Comparative Political Studies, Journal of Peace Research, State Politics and Policy Quarterly, and other academic journals, and his book Secessionism: Identity, Interest, and Strategy was published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in 2012. Sorens received his BA in economics and philosophy, with honors, from Washington and Lee University and his PhD in political science from Yale University.