CNBC study ranks Tennessee as worst state to live in

A new study has Tennessee talking, after news network CNBC published results that said the Volunteer State was America's worst state in which to live.

CNBC released its 20th annual "America's Top States for Business" study, which this year put more weight on what it defined as quality of life. 

CNBC noted that to define quality of life, it used subcategories including civil rights laws, reproductive rights, inclusiveness, crime rates, air quality, healthcare access and worker protections as factors that can hurt a state's rankings.

Along with Tennessee, the bottom ten states that did not "make the grade" in quality of life included Texas, Indiana, Louisiana, Georgia, Utah, Missouri, Alabama, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

By comparision, official U.S. Census data shows Texas, Tennessee and Georgia are in the top ten in the nation in population growth. And even with its F grade in quality of life, Tennessee was still a top ten state in CNBC's overall rankings of Top States for Business.

At the opposite end of the CNBC scale, its top ten states for "exemplary quality of life" were Vermont, Maine, New Jersey, Minnesota, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Virginia, North Dakota, Massachusetts and Nebraska.

Under this year’s methodology, among ten categories, quality of life makes up almost 12 percent of a state’s overall score in the study. Infrastructure was the top-weighted category in 2026, accounting for nearly 18% of a state’s total score.  

On the Facebook page of a Nashville TV station, their article about the study has generated more than ten thousand comments since Monday. By contrast, most of their other articles average less than ten comments.

CNBC's 2025 study also listed Tennessee as fiftieth in quality of life.

Kentucky was said to rank 27th in the top states for business, and 30th in quality of life. Kentucky's highest-ranked category was a top ten finish in the cost of doing business. 

Illinois was ranked 12th in the top states for business, and 22nd in quality of life. Its top category ranking was third nationally in infrastructure.

The complete "Top States for Business" study can be viewed here .


Nashville, TN skyline. (AP Photo George Walker IV)