WASHINGTON, DC-All states have at least partially reopened after keeping non-essential businesses closed for months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, some states have recently chosen to pause their reopening processes due to spikes in the disease. In order to determine the states with the fewest coronavirus restrictions, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 18 key metrics. Our data set ranges from whether child-care programs and restaurants have reopened to whether the state has required face masks in public and workplace temperature screenings. Read on for the state ranking, additional insight from a panel of experts and a full description of our methodology.
| Overall Rank | State | Total Score | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Dakota | 86.95 | |
| 2 | Wisconsin | 72.83 | |
| 3 | Utah | 72.80 | |
| 4 | Wyoming | 68.59 | |
| 5 | Oklahoma | 67.54 | |
| 6 | North Dakota | 66.58 | |
| 7 | Arkansas | 65.31 | |
| 8 | Iowa | 64.75 | |
| 9 | Nebraska | 63.39 | |
| 10 | South Carolina | 62.60 | |
| 11 | Missouri | 62.32 | |
| 12 | Tennessee | 62.26 | |
| 13 | Kansas | 60.40 | |
| 14 | Idaho | 60.37 | |
| 15 | Alabama | 60.34 | |
| 16 | Georgia | 59.94 | |
| 17 | Ohio | 56.86 | |
| 18 | Montana | 56.64 | |
| 19 | Louisiana | 56.05 | |
| 20 | Nevada | 55.71 | |
| 21 | Indiana | 54.86 | |
| 22 | Mississippi | 54.58 | |
| 23 | Kentucky | 54.15 | |
| 24 | Alaska | 52.77 | |
| 25 | Florida | 47.80 | |
| 26 | Illinois | 46.44 | |
| 27 | Minnesota | 45.25 | |
| 28 | Pennsylvania | 42.99 | |
| 29 | West Virginia | 41.72 | |
| 30 | Rhode Island | 41.58 | |
| 31 | District of Columbia | 41.53 | |
| 32 | Michigan | 41.24 | |
| 33 | New Hampshire | 40.57 | |
| 34 | Connecticut | 37.91 | |
| 35 | Oregon | 37.46 | |
| 36 | Texas | 37.03 | |
| 37 | Vermont | 37.01 | |
| 38 | Arizona | 36.19 | |
| 39 | Virginia | 35.59 | |
| 40 | Massachusetts | ||
| 41 | North Carolina | 34.97 | |
| 42 | Washington | 34.35 | |
| 43 | Delaware | 33.93 | |
| 44 | Maryland | 32.99 | |
| 45 | Maine | 31.86 | |
| 45 | New York | 31.86 | |
| 47 | New Mexico | 31.75 | |
| 48 | New Jersey | ||
| 49 | Hawaii | ||
| 50 | Colorado | 30.51 | |
| 51 | California | 19.04 |
Note: Rankings are based on data available as of 12:30 p.m. ET on Monday, July 6, 2020
Biggest Changes in Rank from the Previous Report
- Illinois moved from 41 to 26, up 15 positions. This is due in part to the fact that the state has eased restrictions on large gatherings and has reopened restaurants for limited dine-in services.
- Vermont moved from 50 to 37, up 13 positions. This is due in part to the fact that the state has lifted military travel restrictions and has not mentioned any penalties or enforcement for non-compliance with COVID-19 legislation.
- Texas moved from 14 to 36, down 22 positions. This is due in part to the fact that the state requires residents to wear a face mask in public and has reinstated a large gatherings ban to groups no larger than ten people.
Overtime Changes to State Social Distancing Measures
| Overall Rank, as of July 7 | Overall Rank, as of June 23 | Overall Rank, as of June 9 | Overall Rank, as of May 19 | Overall Rank, as of May 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 15 | 21 | 17 | 11 | 20 |
| Alaska | 24 | 13 | 7 | 17 | 21 |
| Arizona | 38 | 24 | 13 | 8 | 32 |
| Arkansas | 7 | 19 | 20 | 14 | 12 |
| California | 51 | 49 | 50 | 32 | 29 |
| Colorado | 50 | 42 | 37 | 31 | 33 |
| Connecticut | 34 | 31 | 27 | 41 | 42 |
| Delaware | 43 | 34 | 38 | 39 | 41 |
| District of Columbia | 31 | 26 | 36 | 49 | 49 |
| Florida | 25 | 23 | 12 | 17 | 9 |
| Georgia | 16 | 18 | 39 | 28 | 11 |
| Hawaii | 49 | 48 | 48 | 46 | 51 |
| Idaho | 14 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 5 |
| Illinois | 26 | 41 | 43 | 51 | 48 |
| Indiana | 21 | 20 | 24 | 16 | 16 |
| Iowa | 8 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 10 |
| Kansas | 13 | 11 | 18 | 21 | 13 |
| Kentucky | 23 | 29 | 22 | 36 | 24 |
| Louisiana | 19 | 27 | 19 | 29 | 36 |
| Maine | 45 | 37 | 34 | 34 | 26 |
| Maryland | 44 | 46 | 42 | 30 | 40 |
| Massachusetts | 40 | 39 | 44 | 48 | 44 |
| Michigan | 32 | 28 | 25 | 41 | 38 |
| Minnesota | 27 | 38 | 30 | 26 | 21 |
| Mississippi | 22 | 22 | 28 | 22 | 19 |
| Missouri | 11 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 |
| Montana | 18 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 7 |
| Nebraska | 9 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 14 |
| Nevada | 20 | 16 | 26 | 27 | 25 |
| New Hampshire | 33 | 45 | 51 | 35 | 31 |
| New Jersey | 48 | 43 | 49 | 39 | 46 |
| New Mexico | 47 | 51 | 47 | 44 | 35 |
| New York | 45 | 47 | 40 | 41 | 45 |
| North Carolina | 41 | 32 | 21 | 36 | 28 |
| North Dakota | 6 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 3 |
| Ohio | 17 | 24 | 29 | 38 | 43 |
| Oklahoma | 5 | 9 | 34 | 23 | 15 |
| Oregon | 35 | 36 | 32 | 24 | 30 |
| Pennsylvania | 28 | 40 | 41 | 25 | 47 |
| Rhode Island | 30 | 35 | 33 | 50 | 50 |
| South Carolina | 10 | 4 | 14 | 19 | 17 |
| South Dakota | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Tennessee | 12 | 17 | 10 | 13 | 6 |
| Texas | 36 | 14 | 15 | 12 | 8 |
| Utah | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| Vermont | 37 | 50 | 46 | 47 | 39 |
| Virginia | 39 | 44 | 45 | 33 | 27 |
| Washington | 42 | 33 | 31 | 44 | 37 |
| West Virginia | 29 | 30 | 23 | 14 | 23 |
| Wisconsin | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 34 |
| Wyoming | 4 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 18 |
Note: As the situation with the coronavirus pandemic has evolved, we have updated the methodology of this report to reflect the actions easing social distancing measures the most at the time of publication.
