(DES MOINES) – U.S. News & World Report today (Tuesday) released their 2017 “Best States” ranking and ranked Iowa as the 6th “Best State” in the country. “Best States” is a unique rankings and news analysis platform designed to inform citizens, business leaders and policymakers alike about what’s working and what needs improvement across the country.

The site includes rankings that measure the 50 states overall and across seven different categories: education, health care, government, infrastructure, economy, opportunity and crime & corrections. The rankings are derived from 68 metrics and tens of thousands of data points.

Among a few highlights, Iowa ranked:

• No. 1 for health care affordability
• No. 1 for high school graduation rate
• No. 1 for power grid reliability
• No. 6 for opportunity
• No. 7 for labor force participation

The rankings are provided by McKinsey & Company’s Leading States Index. In calculating the rankings, categories were weighted based on a national “citizen experience” survey, conducted by McKinsey, that asked people to prioritize each subject in their state and provide their levels of satisfaction with government services.

More information about how the states were ranked can be found here: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/methodology?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery