The Brief Minnesota has been ranked the third-best place to live in 2026, according to a new U.S. News ranking. The ranking system is said to have evaluated all 50 states across 71 metrics in eight categories, including healthcare, education, economy, infrastructure, public safety and opportunity. Minnesota has once again been ranked near the top five on a list of best states to live in the U.S. in 2026. Minnesota ranks #3 best stateWhat we know:U.S. News’ Best States rankings says it used thousands of data points to measure how well states are performing compared to others. Big picture view:Overall, the combined scores were good for making the land of 10,000 lakes the third-best state to live in the U.S. – behind only Utah and neighboring South Dakota.