Twin Citians have known this for a long time, but Minnesota is a great place to live, work, play, travel, eat, shop… you get the picture. Not just a flyover zone or dull Midwest area of bean and corn fields, our great state is garnering national attention for the high quality of life it provides residents and visitors alike.

The Study

U.S. News & World Report recently published a comprehensive ranking of all 50 states in our nation, assessing each one in a variety of areas. Health care, infrastructure, education and economy were just a few of the categories analyzed for each state. Further, different categories carried more weight than others (e.g., health care and education were weighted more heavily to reflect citizens’ raised concerns over these issues).

Top Tier

Overall, our great state ranked No. 3 in the report. Additionally, we ranked among the top ten states in health care (No. 3), infrastructure (No. 5) and opportunity (No. 2). The latter of the three, opportunity, is especially exciting. This category assessed whether a state is equipping its residents with the tools they need to succeed. Maybe it’s time we traded in our “Land of 10,000 Lakes” nickname for “Land of Opportunity”.