State Scores
How free is each state? Scored out of 100 on taxes, guns, schools, cost and jobs. Red is more free, blue less. Tap a state.
2026 midterms · projected
Power changed hands in 15 states
- +5Governors to Democrats
- +7U.S. Senate seats to Democrats
- +12State chambers to Democrats
Now: 17 states under full Republican control, 22 Democratic, 7 split, 4 still counting. As of November 7. None of it moves a freedom score until the laws change.
All 50, freest first
- 1WyomingRed89
- 2TennesseeRed84
- 3IowaFlippedSplit82
- 3IdahoRed82
- 5OklahomaRed81
- 6LouisianaRed80
- 7TexasFlippedSplit79
- 8IndianaRed78
- 8MontanaRed78
- 8South DakotaRed78
- 11AlaskaPending77
- 11AlabamaRed77
- 11ArkansasRed77
- 11UtahPending77
- 15New HampshireFlippedSplit76
- 16North DakotaRed74
- 17FloridaRed73
- 18MissouriRed71
- 18West VirginiaRed71
- 20ArizonaFlippedBlue70
- 20OhioFlippedSplit70
- 22North CarolinaFlippedPending68
- 23MississippiRed65
- 23NebraskaRed65
- 25KansasFlippedPending63
- 26South CarolinaFlippedRed61
- 27GeorgiaFlippedSplit60
- 28KentuckySplit57
- 29MaineFlippedBlue56
- 30VermontSplit49
- 31WisconsinFlippedBlue48
- 32New MexicoBlue46
- 33MichiganFlippedBlue41
- 33NevadaFlippedBlue41
- 35PennsylvaniaFlippedBlue37
- 36DelawareBlue35
- 36MinnesotaFlippedBlue35
- 38ColoradoBlue31
- 38VirginiaBlue31
- 40IllinoisBlue30
- 40Rhode IslandBlue30
- 42HawaiiBlue26
- 43ConnecticutBlue24
- 43MassachusettsBlue24
- 45OregonBlue23
- 46MarylandBlue22
- 47WashingtonBlue21
- 48New YorkBlue19
- 49CaliforniaBlue18
- 50New JerseyBlue17
How the State Freedom Score works
Five things, weighted equally: taxes, the Second Amendment, school choice, cost of living and jobs. Each is scored 0-100 between the best and worst real state, so a 100 is the best in the country. Permitless carry and universal school choice are yes-or-no laws, scored 100 or 25.
Who holds power is not part of the score. Control after the 2026 midterms (projected until certified) and the 2024 presidential result are shown beside it, so a change in who wins never moves the score until the laws change too.
- Tax Foundation, 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index
- Certified 2024 presidential results by state
- Permitless carry states (29)
- EdChoice, universal school choice (19 states)
- BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
- Pew Research Center, 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study
- Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates
- BLS payroll jobs & unemployment by state (via FRED), Aug 2026