FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) – Indiana is ranked the worst state for pollution and natural environment in the U.S. News & World Report’s annual best states rankings.
RELATED: Indiana ranked 33rd in U.S. News & World Report’s annual Best States report
Indiana ranks 48th in both low industrial toxins and low pollution health risk, the metrics that make up the pollution subcategory for the rankings.
Ohio landed 46th on the list, followed by other neighboring states, Illinois and Kentucky, ranking 41st and 29th, respectively. Michigan landed 27th on the list.
ALSO: Indiana’s road quality ranked best in the country
Indiana was ranked 33rd in the overall best states ranking. On the overall ranking for Indiana, eight categories determine the state’s placement on the Best States list, including: crime and corrections, economy, education, fiscal stability, health care, infrastructure, natural environment and opportunity.
Indiana’s best ranking out of the eight was in opportunity, where it placed 16th. The worst ranking, and the category that the pollution subcategory contributes to, was natural environment where Indiana placed last in the nation.
Other category rankings include:
- 19th in education;
- 20th in infrastructure;
- 21st in crime and corrections;
- 33rd in fiscal stability;
- 35th in healthcare; and
- 40th in economy.
For more information on how much weight each of those categories have in the final ranking, as well as other information on how the states get ranked, click here.
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