CNBC ranks 10 GOP-led states as worst to live in

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

The national news outlet CNBC ranked 10 Republican-led states as the worst to live in its 2026 America’s Top States for Business rankings.

Officials from Republican-led Texas, which ranked second to worst for quality of life in CNBC’s report, scoffed at the rankings.

In its business ranking it also included a new quality of life category in which crime rates, air quality, healthcare access, worker protections and civil rights laws were considered. This includes childcare costs, taxpayer-funded healthcare and Medicaid expansion, “inclusiveness of state laws” related to gender and LGBTQ, and access to abortion.

“With more states touting their quality of life when trying to attract business, CNBC is giving [quality of life] more weight in the 2026 America’s Top States for Business rankings. Based on the data, quality of life in some states does not make the grade,” it said.

Tennessee is listed as the worst state to live for quality of life, according to CNBC, followed by Texas. Rounding out the 10 worst states for quality of life are Indiana, ranking third worst, followed by Louisiana, Georgia, Utah, Missouri, Alabama, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Tennessee ranks the worst for quality of life because of its support for the nuclear heterosexual family, CNBC says.

Republican Gov. Bill Lee makes “no apologies for a rash of state laws targeting the LGBTQ+ community, including a so-called ‘bathroom law’ requiring transgender people to use the facilities designated for their sex at birth,” CNBC says. “The state also explicitly bars localities from adopting their own antidiscrimination ordinances. To underscore the point, Lee signed a resolution earlier this year designating June ‘Nuclear Family Month.’”

Texas ranks second worst because CNBC says Texans don’t have access to healthcare. In May, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott announced $56 million in federal grants to rural hospitals. His administration has also advanced a range of free healthcare programs to support pregnant women and families, The Center Square has reported. On Monday, he announced three Statewide Preceptorship Program grants totaling $5.5 million to professional medical societies in Texas.

Ohio tops the states as the best state for business, according to the CNBC ranking. North Carolina ranks second, followed by Virginia, Texas, Minnesota, Michigan, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee, rounding out the top ten.

The ranking comes as Texas continues to lead the U.S. as the top state for business in multiple rankings for two decades.

Texas also leads the country in population growth, economic growth, job growth, and its GDP surpasses all other states.

Texas is also leading a Boom Belt economic growth record in 11 southern states, The Center Square reported. U.S. Census data also regularly reports that southern states are leading the country in population growth. Blue states are consistently losing population.

Businesses are also relocating and redomiciling to Texas, leaving blue states like Delaware, referred to as DEXIT. This year, Texas ranked first for having the most Fortune 500 company headquarters in the U.S.

When Texas again ranked first as the best state for business last fall, Site Selection magazine said it was because “from the governor’s office in Austin to economic development offices in communities large and small across the Lone Star State, those charged with marketing Texas know they have an easy sell – no corporate tax, sensible business regulations, business-dedicated courts, unbeatable logistics infrastructure and a huge labor force, among other factors. Their challenge is to keep it that way.”

Texas is also consecutively ranked the top state for business, job creation and capital investment for more than a decade by Area Development magazine. Texas received the top ranking again last year because of “an astonishing $10.6 billion in total capital investment across a dozen high-impact projects,” the magazine said.

Since 2015, every year that Abbott’s been governor, Texas has ranked first as the best state for economic development, as well as the best state for business 20 years in a row, including a few years preceding Abbott, The Center Square reported.

Abbott’s press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, told The Center Square CNBC’s ranking “is flawed and doesn’t reflect reality.” Texas’ “low taxes, strong economy, abundant energy, and commitment to freedom deliver the quality of life and opportunity that millions of Americans choose every year. The Governor will continue working to keep Texas the best place to live, work, and raise a family.”

U.S. Rep. Lance Gooden, a Republican from North Texas, also weighed in, saying, “If you hate not paying income taxes, law and order, parental rights, smaller government, school choice, the Second Amendment, and criminal illegal aliens being arrested… Here’s another garbage list from the mainstream media!”