Last week, the Cato Institute released its latest Freedom in the 50 States report, ranking states on how well they protect personal and economic freedoms. The rankings assess factors ranging from taxes, housing, occupational, and consumer freedom to education, gun rights, law enforcement, speech, medical care, and recreational freedom.
Arizona topped the list, followed by Montana, Nevada, Florida, and Idaho. South Carolina, Alaska, Massachusetts, New York, and Hawaii ranked at the bottom, while California narrowly avoided the final five, landing at No. 44.
Cato Institute’s "Freedom in the 50 States" ranks US states on their support for and protection of both economic freedom and personal freedom across a wide range of issues. Learn more at the link: https://t.co/zGTxZiIIZW https://t.co/81V4SV35DM
— Cato Institute (@CatoInstitute) October 22, 2026
For the first time, the libertarian think tank also ranked sitting governors on their support for freedom, evaluating 97 policy measures across 10 categories. It awarded or deducted points for laws, vetoes, and certain proposals, weighting economic freedoms at 40 percent and personal freedoms at 60 percent. The resulting rankings reflected both each state’s existing policies and its governor’s record.
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte took the top spot, followed by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.
"Since taking office in 2021, we’ve led Montana to be a national leader on tax reform, economic growth, and protecting personal liberties — this ranking is the result of our conservative policies at work," Governor Greg Gianforte exclusively told Townhall. "I’m proud to be in the company of fellow Republican governors committed to defending the God-given freedoms of hardworking Americans."
At the other end of the rankings, the bottom five included Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, respectively.
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How does your state's governor rank? For the first time, Cato's "Freedom in the 50 States" grades every sitting governor on economic and personal freedom. Find out more at the link: https://t.co/49GpXRAv0Y https://t.co/KVmLQ9e9se
— Cato Institute (@CatoInstitute) October 23, 2026
The rankings become more revealing, however, when broken down by individual issue. As Scott Lincicome, a vice president at the Cato Institute, explains, “the report shows that most states have a diverse assortment of freedoms that defies easy explanation. Often, in fact, the state that’s best at one kind of liberty is mediocre or even lousy at another.”
Florida and Texas illustrate that divide. Ranked No. 4 and No. 6 overall, respectively for freedom, both states place near the top of the ranking for low fiscal burdens. But those strong showings do not carry across the board. On housing freedom, Florida drops to No. 24 and Texas to No. 18. On occupational freedom, they fall to No. 26 and No. 27, respectively, before rebounding on consumer freedom, where Florida ranks ninth and Texas first.
Their records on personal liberties are similarly uneven. Florida ranks No. 36 for freedom from law enforcement overreach, while Texas places No. 32. Florida also falls to No. 38 for freedom of speech and association.
Meanwhile a state like California offers the reverse contrast. Despite ranking near the bottom overall, it rises to No. 7 for freedom from law enforcement overreach and No. 14 for medical freedom.
What remains clear is that too many states treat freedom not as a priority to protect, but as a hurdle to their legislative goals, much as the federal government has done for decades. Too few state governments, or politicians generally, view protecting their constituents’ freedoms as their primary responsibility.
Too often, we forget that America’s defining feature was not simply its structure of government, but its commitment to individual liberty. Today, that commitment too often takes a backseat to redistribution, efforts to legislate cultural preferences, and the assumption that a legislature’s effectiveness should be measured by how many laws it passes rather than how much freedom it preserves. Many of our problems call for a renewed embrace of that founding principle: that individuals should be free to direct their own lives and responsible for their own choices, not that government should make those choices for them.
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