facebook tracking Best and worst states for hospital quality: CMS star ratings ranked

Best and worst states for hospital quality

Medicare (CMS) rates U.S. hospitals from 1 to 5 stars on mortality, safety, readmissions, patient experience and timely care. We averaged the ratings of all 3,157 rated hospitals to rank every state, using CMS data published July 2026.

#1 Utah4.24 average stars
#50 Mississippi2.33 average stars
3.21U.S. average
383 / 1925-star / 1-star hospitals

Key findings

  • Utah ranks #1. Its 29 rated hospitals average 4.24 stars. 15 of them earned the top 5-star rating, and 79% are rated 4 or 5 stars. Colorado (3.96), South Dakota (3.89), Wisconsin (3.78) and Minnesota (3.77) round out the top five.
  • Mississippi ranks last. Its 52 rated hospitals average 2.33 stars; 12 have the lowest 1-star rating and 60% score 1 or 2 stars. West Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama and New Mexico complete the bottom five.
  • Most 1-star hospitals: California (29), New York (21), Florida (16), Illinois (15).
  • Ownership matters. VA medical centers average 4.19 stars, nonprofit hospitals 3.31 and for-profit hospitals 2.80.
  • 2,185 of 5,342 hospitals (41%) have no star rating, usually because they report too few measures. That is common for small rural and specialty hospitals.

State rankings

Click a column heading to sort. Click a state to see every rated hospital there.

Rank State Avg stars Rated hospitals 5 ★ 1 ★ Rated 4–5 ★ Rated 1–2 ★
1 Utah 4.24 29 15 0 79% 7%
2 Colorado 3.96 49 14 1 73% 4%
3 South Dakota 3.89 18 5 0 72% 11%
4 Wisconsin 3.78 86 21 2 64% 8%
5 Minnesota 3.77 56 13 1 63% 7%
6 Virginia 3.68 76 12 0 61% 8%
7 Ohio 3.58 128 18 0 53% 9%
8 Rhode Island 3.55 11 0 0 64% 9%
9 Idaho 3.55 22 5 0 45% 14%
10 Nebraska 3.50 36 0 0 64% 14%
11 Pennsylvania 3.48 131 20 4 56% 20%
12 South Carolina 3.43 49 7 0 49% 20%
13 Connecticut 3.42 26 4 0 46% 19%
14 Texas 3.38 216 29 7 48% 20%
15 Wyoming 3.38 16 2 0 44% 19%
16 Indiana 3.36 91 12 2 44% 19%
17 Maryland 3.31 42 7 2 38% 19%
18 North Carolina 3.30 90 12 4 44% 23%
19 Oklahoma 3.29 62 8 2 45% 26%
20 Oregon 3.25 44 3 2 45% 23%
21 North Dakota 3.25 16 2 1 44% 25%
22 Montana 3.25 20 4 1 40% 30%
23 Vermont 3.25 12 2 1 33% 17%
24 Iowa 3.24 62 7 2 45% 29%
25 Washington 3.23 60 6 1 40% 25%
26 Maine 3.21 24 1 1 42% 21%
27 Massachusetts 3.20 54 9 2 39% 31%
28 Hawaii 3.18 11 0 0 45% 27%
29 Kansas 3.18 55 3 2 42% 25%
30 New Hampshire 3.17 23 0 1 43% 22%
31 New Jersey 3.15 61 7 5 39% 28%
32 Delaware 3.14 7 0 0 29% 14%
33 Missouri 3.14 79 5 3 42% 30%
34 Arizona 3.11 55 8 1 33% 35%
35 California 3.10 279 29 29 42% 32%
36 Michigan 3.09 94 9 9 38% 30%
37 Tennessee 3.08 72 6 6 36% 28%
38 Florida 3.06 168 19 16 36% 32%
39 Illinois 3.03 136 14 15 36% 32%
40 Nevada 3.00 25 3 0 28% 40%
41 Georgia 2.94 84 6 8 32% 36%
42 Alaska 2.90 10 1 1 30% 40%
43 Arkansas 2.86 43 3 3 26% 40%
44 Louisiana 2.81 59 0 3 22% 36%
45 New York 2.77 136 20 21 26% 49%
46 West Virginia 2.76 34 5 6 26% 47%
47 Kentucky 2.76 67 5 8 24% 43%
48 Alabama 2.74 58 0 4 19% 38%
49 New Mexico 2.48 23 1 3 17% 61%
50 Mississippi 2.33 52 1 12 13% 60%

Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Vermont have fewer than 15 rated hospitals, so a single hospital's rating change can move them several places.

Star ratings by hospital ownership

OwnershipRated hospitalsAvg stars
VA (Veterans Health Administration)1104.19
Physician-owned183.67
Nonprofit (church)2183.38
Nonprofit1,8603.31
Government (local or district)4052.92
Government (state or federal)482.90
For-profit4952.80

Every 5-star hospital, by state

Utah — 15 five-star hospitals
Colorado — 14 five-star hospitals
South Dakota — 5 five-star hospitals
Wisconsin — 21 five-star hospitals
Minnesota — 13 five-star hospitals
Virginia — 12 five-star hospitals
Ohio — 18 five-star hospitals
Idaho — 5 five-star hospitals
Pennsylvania — 20 five-star hospitals
South Carolina — 7 five-star hospitals
Connecticut — 4 five-star hospitals
Texas — 29 five-star hospitals
Wyoming — 2 five-star hospitals
Indiana — 12 five-star hospitals
Maryland — 7 five-star hospitals
North Carolina — 12 five-star hospitals
Oklahoma — 8 five-star hospitals
Oregon — 3 five-star hospitals
North Dakota — 2 five-star hospitals
Montana — 4 five-star hospitals
Vermont — 2 five-star hospitals
Iowa — 7 five-star hospitals
Washington — 6 five-star hospitals
Maine — 1 five-star hospital
Massachusetts — 9 five-star hospitals
Kansas — 3 five-star hospitals
New Jersey — 7 five-star hospitals
Missouri — 5 five-star hospitals
Arizona — 8 five-star hospitals
California — 29 five-star hospitals
Michigan — 9 five-star hospitals
Tennessee — 6 five-star hospitals
Florida — 19 five-star hospitals
Illinois — 14 five-star hospitals
Nevada — 3 five-star hospitals
Georgia — 6 five-star hospitals
Alaska — 1 five-star hospital
Arkansas — 3 five-star hospitals
New York — 20 five-star hospitals
West Virginia — 5 five-star hospitals
Kentucky — 5 five-star hospitals
New Mexico — 1 five-star hospital
Mississippi — 1 five-star hospital

Methodology

Data is the CMS Hospital General Information file (Care Compare, July 2026 release). Each facility is counted once by its CMS Certification Number. 3,157 of 5,342 hospitals have an overall star rating; hospitals without one are left out of the averages. A state's rank is the mean overall rating of its rated hospitals, with ties broken by the share rated 4 or 5 stars. Washington, D.C. and U.S. territories are not ranked. We update this page with each CMS release.

A star rating summarizes many measures and does not capture every service. Talk to your doctor about which hospital is right for your care. About the data.

Use this data

Journalists, researchers and health organizations are welcome to use these rankings with a link to this page.

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Download the state table (CSV) · Need a comment or your state's hospital list as a spreadsheet? Contact us.

Source: CMS Care Compare, Hospital General Information, published July 2026. Not affiliated with CMS. For a medical emergency, call 911.