by Robert Kimball Shinkoskey, Utah News Dispatch
June 25, 2025
Utah’s political leaders are known for boasting that they have the best state in the nation. Some studies have even awarded it with that title. U.S. News & World Report has awarded it best in the nation three years in a row (2023, 2024, and 2025). WalletHub awarded it 4th happiest and overall 4th best state in 2024.
One ranking authority took the novel approach of listing what each state is the worst at among all 50 states, in an apparent attempt to show states are not always what they are cracked up to be. Utah was found to be the “nerdiest” state in the union, in part because of the heavy participation of its residents in “gaming.” While other states got hit hard with real deficiencies, the researchers seem not to have been able to find too much wrong with Utah.
However, in reality Utah seems to be challenging a number of the named worst performing states with clear indications of its own very poor performance. For example, New Jersey is dinged for raking in excessive amounts of money by giving out the most speeding tickets. However, a Utah TV station recently featured a story about Utah’s own notorious problem of “super speeders.”
Oregon has the prize for highest rate of prescription pain killer abuse, but Utah has long been at or near the bottom in this indicator of despair and unhappiness as well. Utah had the 7th highest drug overdose rate in the U.S. between 2013 and 2015. Prescription overdose deaths in Utah have increased 400% since 2000. Fentanyl deaths per year increased from 23 in 2014 to 290 in 2023, an 1160% increase.
North Carolina is named the worse state for education. However, Utah has long had near the lowest or the lowest per-pupil spending in public schools. Also, Salt Lake City’s own University of Utah was recently ranked second from the bottom among hundreds of universities in “political awareness” of its student body, surely an indicator of the poor quality of civics education in the state.
Utah has long been relatively bereft of direct air travel routes to international destinations east and west. Recently, Salt Lake City opened up its first direct-to-Asia link in over 15 years, to Inchon, South Korea. Aside from increasing passenger travel, Mayor Mendenhall says this will also facilitate cargo transport bringing familiar electronic products to Utah and also open up new trade opportunities. However, the mayor did not mention the obvious huge negative factor in the equation stemming from our current tariff battles with Asian countries.
Utah has other negative distinctions that the “worst state” study was not able to focus on. For example, Utah recently had the second highest short-term consumer loan rates in the nation, thus breaking with the Biblical Christian tradition of not exploiting the “widow,” the “fatherless,” and the “poor.”
Utah also has a severe problem with teen suicide. Some 25 teens a day attempt suicide in Utah, according to The Hope Hero Foundation, which reports suicide rates have risen over 71% over the past decade for youth ages 10-24.
While Utah is often cited for lower-than-average crime rates, Utah has long been a hub for featuring outrageous murderers, boasting a long-string of famous killers like Mark Hoffman, Ronnie Lee Gardner, Gary Gilmore, Barton Kay Kirkham, and the notorious serial murderer Ted Bundy. In addition, college students at the state’s main public university, University of Utah, have proved to be all-too-easy marks for preventable murders, as was the case with Lauren McCluskey.
Utah also seems to have sidelined its long-time civic spiritual pride in favor of Tower of Babel-style materialism and sports entertainment above all other priorities. It first added major league basketball, then major league hockey, and soon a major league baseball team to its long-term major-league snow skiing capacity. Utah also has downtown building plans aplenty, including luxury housing, office space for medium-size corporations, a major new hospital, a sports entertainment complex, a university extension facility, and a global religious headquarters with seismic upgrades. Utah also has plans for a plethora of nuclear energy facilities, an interconnected urban trails system, and an expensive plan for ferrying skiers up the canyon.
Utah is also known for its monopoly political party which regularly participates in illegal gerrymandering efforts and easily discoverable efforts to skew voter sentiment, such as failing to adhere to proper voter notification requirements for a constitutional amendment.
Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Utah News Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor McKenzie Romero for questions: info@utahnewsdispatch.com.
