Overview
- CNBC published its 2026 Top States for Business study this week and released an 11.6% weighted Quality of Life subranking that named Tennessee the worst state to live in and Texas second‑worst.
- Texas received 78 out of 290 points and a failing grade driven largely by health metrics that include a 16.7% uninsured rate and the fewest primary care physicians per capita, according to United Health Foundation data cited by CNBC.
- The report measured states with specific, quantifiable factors such as crime rates, air quality, access to health care, childcare cost and availability, inclusiveness and reproductive‑rights laws, which together produced the bottom‑10 list.
- Conservative outlets and commentators have sharply criticized the list as politically biased, pointing to recent net domestic migration gains into many of the ranked states and to CNBC’s own business rankings that place some of those states near the top.
- The dispute highlights a policy tension for employers and policymakers because states that score poorly on the quality‑of‑life measures often still show strong population growth and high rankings for business competitiveness, a dynamic that could shape hiring and site‑selection decisions.