How It's Calculated

The following list indicates the weighting of the relevant variables that led to the rankings of states on this website. For more on these weightings, see the book Freedom in the Fifty States which may be downloaded here. You can also apply your own weights to these variables here.

Dimension

Category

Policy Variable

Fiscal Policy: 30.4%

State Taxation: 11.6%

Local Taxation: 8.8%

Government consumption and investment: 8.2%

Government employment: 2%

Government debt: 0.3%

Cash and security assets: 0.2%

Regulatory Policy: 34.0%

Land Use Freedom: 11.1%

Local rent control: 5.3%
"Land-use" court mentions: 3.2%
Wharton Residential Land Use Regulatory Index: 1.6%
Renewable portfolio standards: 0.7%
Regulatory taking compensation: 0.2%
Eminent domain reform index: 0.2%
Parking lot gun mandate: 0.01%
Mandated free speech on private property: <0.01%

Health insurance freedom: 8.8%

Community rating: small groups: 2.4%
Individual health insurance mandate: 2.3%
Health insurance mandates index: 2.2%
Individual guaranteed issue: 0.6%
Small-group rate review: 0.5%
Community rating: individuals: 0.4%
Mandated direct access to specialists: 0.3%
Individual rate review: 0.1%
Standing referrals mandated: 0.03%
Individual policies: elimination riders banned: 0.02%
Mandated external grievance review: 0.02%
Financial incentives to providers banned: 0.01%

Labor-market freedom: 4.9%

General right-to-work law: 2.5%
Short-term disability insurance: 0.9%
Noncompete agreements permitted: 0.8%
Minimum wage: 0.6%
Workers’ compensation funding regulations: 0.5%
Workers’ compensation coverage regulations: 0.2%
Employer verification of legal status: 0.1%
Employee anti-discrimination law: 0.01%
Paid family leave: <0.01%

Lawsuit freedom: 3.3%

Occupational freedom: 2.6%

Nurse practitioner independence index: 0.8%
Employment-weighted licensure: 0.8%
Regulatory keywords in statutes: 0.8%
Dental hygienist scope of practice: 0.1%
Sunrise commissions: 0.06%
Physician assistant prescribing authority: 0.04%
Nurse Licensure Compact membership: 0.03%
Sunset review: 0.02%

Miscellaneous regulatory freedom: 2.4%

Certificate of need for hospitals: 0.8%
Rate filing requirements: personal auto insurance: 0.4%
Rate filing requirements: homeowner’s insurance: 0.3%
Anti-price-gouging laws: 0.2%
General sales-below-cost laws: 0.2%
Rate classification prohibitions: 0.2%
Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Compact: 0.1%
Sales-below-cost law for gasoline: 0.1%
Direct auto sales: 0.1%
Moving company entry regulation: 0.02%
Mandatory labeling law: 0.01%

Cable and telecommunications: 0.9%

Telecom deregulation: 0.6%
Statewide cable franchising: 0.3%

Personal freedom: 34.1%

Incarceration and arrests: 8.2%

Crime-adjusted incarceration rate: 4.9%
Drug enforcement rate: 2%
Arrests for nondrug victimless crimes, % of population: 0.6%
Arrests for nondrug victimless crimes, % of all arrests: 0.6%
Driver’s license suspensions for drug offenses: 0.04%
Prison collect phone call rate: 0.01%

Guns: 4.5%

Concealed-carry index: 2.2%
Initial permit cost: 0.5%
Local gun ban: 0.4%
Firearms licensing index: 0.3%
Waiting period for purchases: 0.3%
Initial permit term: 0.2%
Open-carry index: 0.1%
Training or testing requirement: 0.1%
Stricter minimum age: 0.1%
Assault weapons ban: 0.05%
No duty to retreat: 0.04%
Dealer licensing: 0.02%
Built-in locking devices: 0.02%
Restrictions on multiple purchases: 0.02%
Background checks for private sales: 0.02%
Registration of firearms: 0.01%
Design safety standards: 0.01%
Machine guns: 0.01%
Ballistic identification: 0.01%
Retention of sales records: 0.01%
arge-capacity magazine bans: <0.01%
Sound suppressor: <0.01%
Short-barreled shotguns: <0.01%
Short-barreled rifles: <0.01%
.50 caliber ban: <0.01%

Gambling: 3.8%

Casino and racino wins: 2.4%
Slot/video games outside casinos: 1.3%
Pari-mutuel wagering: 0.03%
Aggravated gambling felony: 0.02%

Social gambling allowed: 0.02%
Charitable gambling: 0.01%
Express prohibition on internet gambling: <0.01%

Marriage: 3.4%

Same-sex partnerships laws: 2%
Super-DOMAs: 0.8%
Sodomy laws: 0.3%
Cousin marriage: 0.2%
Covenant marriage: 0.1%
Blood test required: 0.01%
Total waiting period: 0.01%

Education: 2.8%

Tax credit/deduction law for scholarships/expenses: 1%
Publicly funded voucher law: 0.6%
Mandatory licensure, private school teachers: 0.5%
Mandatory state approval, private schools: 0.2%
Compulsory schooling years: 0.2%
Private school curriculum control: 0.1%
Public school choice: 0.1%
Curriculum control, homeschools: 0.04%
Record-keeping requirements, homeschools: 0.03%
Standardized testing requirements, homeschools: 0.03%
Notification requirements, homeschools: 0.02%
Teacher qualifications, homeschools: 0.01%
Mandatory registration, private schools: <0.01%
Homeschool statute: <0.01%

Alcohol: 2.6%

Alcohol distribution control: 0.9%
Off-premises sales in grocery stores: 0.4%
Blue law index: 0.4%
Spirits taxes: 0.3%
Wine taxes: 0.2%
Beer taxes: 0.2%
Direct wine shipment ban: 0.2%
Keg regulations/ban: 0.1%
Happy hour ban: 0.02%
Mandatory server training: <0.01%

Asset forfeiture: 2.6%

State asset forfeiture law, aggregate score: 1.3%
Moving average of equitable sharing revenue: 1.3%

Marijuana: 2%

Medical marijuana index: 0.8%
Possession decriminalization/legalization: 0.5%
Maximum marijuana penalty: 0.2%
Marijuana misdemeanor index: 0.1%
Sales legalization: 0.1%
Mandatory minimums: 0.1%
Salvia ban: 0.1%

Tobacco 1.8%

Cigarette tax: 1.3%
Minimum legal sale age 21: 0.7% Smoking ban, bars: 0.2%
Internet purchase regulations: 0.05%
Smoking ban, private workplaces: 0.03%
Smoking ban, restaurants: 0.02%
Vending machine regulations: 0.02%

Mala prohibita and civil liberties: 1.2%

Affirmative action ban: 0.7%
Prostitution legal: 0.2%
Trans-fat bans: 0.1%
Mixed martial arts legal: 0.1%
Fireworks laws: 0.04%
Equal rights amendment: 0.03%
Physician-assisted suicide legal: 0.03%
DNA database index: 0.01%
Religious Freedom Restoration Act: 0.01%

Travel freedom: 1.1%

Automated license plate readers: 0.3%
Driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants: 0.3%
Seat belt laws: 0.1%
Fingerprint for driver’s license: 0.1%
Sobriety checkpoints: 0.1%
Motorcycle helmet law: 0.1%
Uninsured/underinsured coverage mandate: 0.1%
Handheld cell phone ban: 0.01%

Campaign finance: 0.1%

Individual contributions to candidates: 0.03%
Individual contributions to parties: 0.02%
Grassroots political action committee contributions to candidates: 0.01%
Grassroots political action committee contributions to parties: 0.01%
Public financing: <0.01%

Note: Because of rounding, percentages listed do not sum to exactly 100. Because of how we weight the local taxation variable, the weights for the fiscal policy dimension range from 29.5 (New Jersey) to 32.0 (Hawaii). For more on this, see “Local Taxation” under “Fiscal Policy” in the first chapter.