(The Center Square) — New Hampshire has retained its top billing as the “freest” state in North America, according to a new report, which cites the state’s low tax burden and restraints on government spending.
The latest edition of the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of North America index ranked New Hampshire as the freest state for the 24th time, followed by South Dakota and Florida. New York is the least free state in the U.S., ranked just below California and Hawaii, according to the report.
The index ranks the 50 U.S. states, 10 Canadian provinces, and 32 Mexican states based on how free their citizens are to engage in economic activity. The index gauges the impact of government spending, taxes and labor freedom.
New Hampshire scored 8.34 out of 10 in this year’s report, which measures government spending, taxation, regulations and labor market restrictions using data from 2023, the most recent year of available comparable data. The state was ranked 9.11 out of 10 for government spending; 7.92 for taxes and 7.99 for labor market freedoms, according to the report.
“People are more economically free when they are allowed to make more of their own economic choices,” Matthew Mitchell, a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and co-author of the report, said in a statement. “Researchers find that as government limits these choices, people tend to be worse off.”
Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte touted the report’s findings as evidence that the state’s “live free or die” motto is alive and well and urged residents from Massachusetts and other states to consider relocating.
“New Hampshire is a beacon of economic freedom and opportunity for the nation,” Ayotte said in a statement. “I’m proud to see us rank #1 once again, and we’ll keep working every day to make sure this is the best state to live, work, and raise a family. Anyone seeking freedom from higher taxes in Massachusetts or anywhere else is welcome in the Granite State!”
The conservative Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, which collaborated on the report, said while New Hampshire scores highly on government spending and taxes, it is closer to the national average on labor market freedom. To maintain the state’s position, policymakers should look to the state’s labor market regulations for reform opportunities, the group recommended.
“Economic freedom has made New Hampshire an engine of growth and prosperity in the Northeast, and ranking first in North America for the 24th time is a welcome recognition of the hard work of so many legislators over the decades to turn New Hampshire into the continent’s freest political jurisdiction,” Andrew Cline, the center’s president, said in a statement.
“Yet this year’s report is also a warning that ambitious leaders in other states are striving to claim the title of freest state for their own recruitment and marketing purposes, and they’re very close to doing that,” he added.
