How to Read This Report:

We report each measure three different ways: State Rank, State Trend, State vs. US Trend. Each result is color coded as either red (negative/worsening), yellow (neutral/stable), or green (positive/improving), as indicated below. If the simple trends were erratic, had too few data points, or had no data points, we do not color code and label the trend as “mixed,” "unclear," or "NA," respectively.

State Rank

(Where are we now?)

State Trend

(Where are we going?)

State vs. US Trend

(How do we compare?)

Top third

Improving

Improving relative to the national trend and improving 2+ rank spots

Middle third

No significant change

No difference compared with national trend or change in rank by <2 spots

Bottom third

Worsening

Worsening relative to national trend and declining 2+ rank spots

Not applicable

Distinct periods of improving and worsening

(Only for measures with >1 series.) One series is improving and another is worsening

Not applicable

Not enough data to establish a trend

NA

No data

For more information on our definitions and methods, please see the Data Notes section.