America's least healthy states in 2025

At the other end of the 2025 America’s Health Rankings — click here for the healthiest states in 2025 — a cluster of states face heavier burdens of chronic disease, premature death and social stressors, compared to the national average.

The 10 lowest-ranked states, from 41 to 50, are New Mexico, Nevada, Kentucky, Tennessee, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Across different measures, these states tend to share several patterns: more adults living with multiple chronic conditions, higher rates of behavioral and injury-related deaths, in addition to greater economic hardship, housing problems and food insecurity.

Many also report larger shares of adults who avoid needed care because of cost or lack of coverage.

For physicians, that often translates into sicker patients arriving later in the disease course, and less community capacity to help with basics like housing, transportation, mental health and substance use support.