DeSantis’s Florida is still the best-run state in the country

Published July 15, 2025 1:41pm ET



Eat your heart out, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA). The best-run state in the country is still Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’s Florida.

For the third year in a row, CNBC ranked Florida as having the top economy in the country, based on factors such as GDP and job growth, credit ratings, spending, revenues, pension obligations, and the residential real estate market. Florida also ranks first in the U.S. News & World Report rankings on the economy, driven by the state’s top rank in growth. For comparison among the “Big Four” states, Texas’s economy ranked second in the CNBC and U.S. News & World Report rankings, and New York ranked fifth and 41st, respectively. California ranked 12th and 32nd, respectively.

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