These States Are Safest During the Pandemic

As the rollout of the various coronavirus vaccines continues, there's now a (still somewhat distant) light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. But with months to go before much of the population is vaccinated, it's important to keep up with safety and health guidelines, and to keep tabs on local stats. That last part is going to vary based on where you live, as some US states are doing much better than others at keeping COVID in check and distributing the vaccine. WalletHub looked at all 50 states using just five key metrics—vaccination rate, positive testing rate, hospitalization rate, estimated transmission rate, and death rate—to see which were safest and which could use improvement. The top and bottom performers:

Best States

1. Alaska
2. Vermont
3. Colorado
4. Montana
5. North Dakota
6. Hawaii
7. Iowa
8. Utah
9. Minnesota
10. Missouri

Worst States

41. Kansas
42. Arkansas
43. Pennsylvania
44. California
45. Georgia
46. South Carolina
47. Nevada
48. Mississippi
49. Alabama
50. Arizona

See how other states fared here. (More US states stories.)