CNBC’s 2026 America’s Top States for Business study released on July 14, 2026, ranked the worst 10 states for quality of life, placing 10 Republican-led states at the bottom of its annual list. The states ranked from lowest to highest were Tennessee, Texas, Indiana, Louisiana, Georgia, Utah, Missouri, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, according to Nashville’s WSMV.

Tennessee scored just 64 out of 290 points for quality of life, while Texas scored 78, as reported by Newsweek. All 10 states are governed by Republicans and supported former President Trump in the 2024 election.

CNBC explained that quality of life now accounts for 11.6% of a state’s overall competitiveness score, up from about 10% last year. This category includes factors such as crime rates, air quality, health care access, worker protections, and what CNBC describes as the inclusiveness of state laws, including anti-discrimination statutes and abortion access.

The report stated that the bottom 10 states “do not make the grade.” Specific criticisms included Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s resolution designating June as “Nuclear Family Month,” Utah’s low $7.25 minimum wage and limited childcare access, and Georgia’s perceived weak protections for LGBTQ+ residents.

Conservatives have mocked the rankings, arguing that the methodology unfairly penalizes red-state policies rather than reflecting where Americans are actually choosing to move. Migration data from the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 population estimates support the movement trends noted.

For example, New York City experienced a net loss of 114,000 residents to domestic outmigration, though international arrivals kept its overall population loss to about 12,000, according to a Citizens Budget Commission analysis cited by Fox Business.

CNBC emphasized that quality of life is only one of ten categories used to rank states’ overall business climates, and acknowledged that several underlying measures, such as abortion access and anti-discrimination laws, remain politically contested nationwide.

Sources