Which States Are Struggling the Most? The 2026 Wellbeing Rankings
Ranking all 9 Census divisions by a composite Wellbeing Index built from food security, housing, employment, insurance, and expense data.
Every Census division tells a different story about American life in 2026. By combining six HTOPS metrics into a composite Wellbeing Index, we can rank the regions and see where Americans are thriving and where they're struggling.
How the Wellbeing Index Works
Each metric is scored on a 0-100 scale relative to the best and worst divisions, then averaged. Higher employment and AI usage are positive; higher food insecurity, uninsured rates, rent delinquency, and expense difficulty are negative.
The Rankings
1. Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY) — Lowest rent delinquency (1.61%), moderate food insecurity (5.32%), expense difficulty 79.02%. Lower housing costs are the key advantage.
2. West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD) — Strong AI adoption (30.43%), low food insecurity (5.39%). But the highest expense difficulty in the nation (87.71%).
3. East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) — Very low rent delinquency (2.19%) and food insecurity (6.90%). Solid employment at 58.37%.
4. New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) — Nation-leading AI adoption (33.79%) and employment (59.00%). Moderate food insecurity (6.97%).
5. Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA) — Middle of the pack. Lowest uninsured rate (3.61%) is a bright spot.
6. West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX) — Low food insecurity (5.30%) but highest uninsured rate (16.10%).
7. South Atlantic (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV) — Rent delinquency at 15.11%, second highest nationally.
8. East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN) — Highest employment (59.06%) but food insecurity at 8.12%.
9. Middle Atlantic (NJ, NY, PA) — Most stressed. Highest food insecurity (9.46%), highest rent delinquency (21.23%), near-highest expense difficulty (82.94%).
What Drives the Rankings?
Housing affordability is the single strongest predictor. The Mountain division's 1.61% rent delinquency versus the Middle Atlantic's 21.23% creates a 13x gap. Insurance coverage is the second biggest differentiator.
The Takeaway
Your region shapes your economic reality. Cost of living, not GDP, is the true measure of regional prosperity.
*See the full Wellbeing Index at Wellbeing. Explore each division on our Regions page. Take the calculator to see how you compare.*
Data source: U.S. Census Bureau HTOPS, March 2026.