SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is among the healthiest states in the nation, ranking ninth overall in a new 2025 report on health and wellness from the nonprofit SmileHub.
The report found that about 129 million Americans are living with at least one major chronic disease, such as heart disease, cancer or diabetes. To gauge how well states are supporting residents in improving their health, SmileHub compared all 50 states across 23 metrics ranging from life expectancy and obesity rates to the cost of medical visits and public health funding.
Utah ranked first in the nation for the quality of its public hospital system and second for outdoor activity access — a measure that reflects the state’s strong culture of hiking, biking and other outdoor recreation opportunities popular across Northern Utah and Cache Valley. The state also placed fifth for affordability of medical visits.
Utah was 11th in both life expectancy and obesity rates, continuing to show strong outcomes in lifestyle and preventive care.
“While chronic health issues remain a challenge across the country, Utah’s combination of accessible outdoor activities, quality hospitals and reasonable medical costs place it among the best states for wellness,” SmileHub noted in its release.
The full report, including rankings for all states and SmileHub’s picks for top health and wellness charities, is available at smilehub.org.