Electricity rankings by state
South Dakota. Best average rank over five measures: Idaho (9.6), Washington (9.8), South Dakota (10.2). Nowhere is best at everything: use the rankings below or the scorecard.
12 rankings
- Cheapest electricityFirst: North Dakota, 11.81 ¢Last: Hawaii, 40.59 ¢
- Most expensive electricityFirst: Hawaii, 40.59 ¢Last: North Dakota, 11.81 ¢
- Fastest price rises since 2015First: California, +91.5%Last: Nevada, +3.1%
- Most reliable powerFirst: Illinois, 57 minLast: Mississippi, 280 min
- Cleanest grid (CO2)First: Vermont, 43 lbLast: West Virginia, 1,954 lb
- Most renewable electricityFirst: Vermont, 99.8%Last: Connecticut, 3.6%
- Highest electricity burdenFirst: Mississippi, 3.63%Last: Utah, 1.33%
- Best states for heat pumpsFirst: Florida, +42%Last: Alaska, -94%
- Best states for rooftop solarFirst: Hawaii, $696Last: Washington, $139
- Biggest price jump 2025First: District of Columbia, +23.9%Last: Nevada, -12.3%
- Outages from major eventsFirst: South Carolina, 3576 minLast: North Dakota, 4 min
- Smart meter and time-of-use coverageFirst: District of Columbia, 99.5%Last: Rhode Island, 1.1%
State scorecard
One row per state, rank 1 is best on every column. Sort by any column. Method of the last column: the plain average of five ranks, each with weight 20%: price (lowest first), reliability (fewest outage minutes), CO2 (lowest), renewable share (highest) and electricity burden (lowest). A state missing from one of the five gets no average. It is a simple summary, not a verdict: equal weights are a choice, and you can re-weight by sorting on the columns you care about. Seven sources feed the table: this is the joining of EIA, EPA, NOAA, Census and PVWatts data that no single agency publishes.
| Alabama | 31 | n/a | 25 | 41 | 50 | 13 | 25 | n/a |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 44 | 38 | 34 | 22 | 18 | 45 | 15 | 31.2 |
| Arizona | 25 | 7 | 23 | 25 | 31 | 8 | 14 | 22.2 |
| Arkansas | 5 | 39 | 38 | 29 | 44 | 2 | 46 | 31.0 |
| California | 50 | 35 | 8 | 9 | 16 | 37 | 2 | 23.6 |
| Colorado | 30 | 21 | 42 | 14 | 2 | 34 | 17 | 21.8 |
| Connecticut | 47 | 8 | 15 | 51 | 40 | n/a | 5 | 32.2 |
| Delaware | 34 | 5 | 24 | 48 | 30 | 18 | 21 | 28.2 |
| District of Columbia | 40 | n/a | 9 | 15 | 4 | 30 | 9 | n/a |
| Florida | 23 | 4 | 32 | 39 | 43 | 1 | 22 | 28.2 |
| Georgia | 20 | 40 | 26 | 34 | 38 | 3 | 31 | 31.6 |
| Hawaii | 51 | n/a | 45 | 24 | 35 | 6 | 1 | n/a |
| Idaho | 2 | 31 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 40 | 49 | 9.6 |
| Illinois | 35 | 1 | 12 | 27 | 10 | 41 | 24 | 17.0 |
| Indiana | 32 | 23 | 48 | 28 | 41 | 33 | 26 | 34.4 |
| Iowa | 16 | 12 | 18 | 6 | 15 | 29 | 38 | 13.4 |
| Kansas | 19 | 20 | 27 | 11 | 22 | 16 | 28 | 19.8 |
| Kentucky | 12 | 29 | 49 | 42 | 46 | 15 | 45 | 35.6 |
| Louisiana | 4 | 41 | 29 | 47 | 48 | 4 | 41 | 33.8 |
| Maine | 46 | 43 | 4 | 7 | 32 | n/a | 6 | 26.4 |
| Maryland | 38 | 9 | 13 | 40 | 26 | n/a | 12 | 25.2 |
| Massachusetts | 49 | 10 | 35 | 26 | 25 | 23 | 3 | 29.0 |
| Michigan | 39 | 34 | 33 | 36 | 23 | 44 | 16 | 33.0 |
| Minnesota | 29 | 14 | 28 | 17 | 5 | 35 | 29 | 18.6 |
| Mississippi | 18 | 44 | 36 | 46 | 51 | 9 | 37 | 39.0 |
| Missouri | 15 | 19 | 47 | 33 | 33 | 10 | 40 | 29.4 |
| Montana | 6 | 30 | 40 | 8 | 11 | 36 | 48 | 19.0 |
| Nebraska | 3 | 6 | 39 | 18 | 13 | 19 | 44 | 15.8 |
| Nevada | 10 | 3 | 19 | 13 | 8 | 17 | 20 | 10.6 |
| New Hampshire | 43 | 11 | 3 | 35 | 17 | 31 | 8 | 21.8 |
| New Jersey | 41 | 17 | 11 | 50 | 7 | 42 | 10 | 25.2 |
| New Mexico | 22 | 37 | 31 | 10 | 12 | 39 | 13 | 22.4 |
| New York | 45 | 27 | 10 | 21 | 27 | 38 | 7 | 26.0 |
| North Carolina | 17 | 28 | 17 | 31 | 34 | n/a | 35 | 25.4 |
| North Dakota | 1 | 13 | 44 | 16 | 20 | 25 | 50 | 18.8 |
| Ohio | 33 | 26 | 41 | 43 | 37 | 24 | 30 | 36.0 |
| Oklahoma | 9 | 22 | 21 | 12 | 39 | 12 | 36 | 20.6 |
| Oregon | 26 | 24 | 7 | 5 | 19 | 14 | 47 | 16.2 |
| Pennsylvania | 37 | 25 | 20 | 49 | 36 | 28 | 19 | 33.4 |
| Rhode Island | 48 | n/a | 37 | 38 | 29 | n/a | 4 | n/a |
| South Carolina | 21 | 15 | 16 | 45 | 47 | n/a | 27 | 28.8 |
| South Dakota | 13 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 28 | 32 | 39 | 10.2 |
| Tennessee | 11 | 36 | 22 | 30 | 45 | 20 | 43 | 28.8 |
| Texas | 28 | 32 | 30 | 19 | 42 | 7 | 23 | 30.2 |
| Utah | 7 | 18 | 46 | 23 | 1 | 27 | 34 | 19.0 |
| Vermont | 42 | n/a | 1 | 1 | 21 | 26 | 11 | n/a |
| Virginia | 24 | 42 | 14 | 37 | 24 | 11 | 33 | 28.2 |
| Washington | 8 | 33 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 51 | 9.8 |
| West Virginia | 27 | n/a | 51 | 44 | 49 | 21 | 42 | n/a |
| Wisconsin | 36 | 16 | 43 | 32 | 14 | 43 | 18 | 28.2 |
| Wyoming | 14 | n/a | 50 | 20 | 9 | 22 | 32 | n/a |
50 states and DC, rank 1 is best: EIA electricity retail sales, annual and monthly (API v2); EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2024 final; EPA eGRID2023 (rev2, June 2025); EIA-923 generation (2025 final) and EIA-860 generator file (2025); U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year, 2023; EIA natural gas prices, residential, annual and monthly; NLR (formerly NREL) PVWatts v8 API, computed 6 Oct 2026.
CSVThe scorecard by Census division
Averaging the same five ranks over the nine Census divisions puts Mountain first (17.8) and East South Central last (34.5). The columns on the right count how many of each division's scored states are in the best third on price, on reliability and on CO2, so a division with a good average can still be weak on one measure.
| Census division | States scored | Mean of average ranks | Best state | Weakest state | Cheapest third | Most reliable third | Cleanest third |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New England | 4 | 27.3 | New Hampshire 21.8 | Connecticut 32.2 | 0 of 4 | 3 of 4 | 3 of 4 |
| Middle Atlantic | 3 | 28.2 | New Jersey 25.2 | Pennsylvania 33.4 | 0 of 3 | 0 of 3 | 2 of 3 |
| East North Central | 5 | 29.7 | Illinois 17.0 | Ohio 36.0 | 0 of 5 | 1 of 5 | 1 of 5 |
| West North Central | 7 | 18.0 | South Dakota 10.2 | Missouri 29.4 | 5 of 7 | 5 of 7 | 1 of 7 |
| South Atlantic | 7 | 27.9 | Maryland 25.2 | Georgia 31.6 | 1 of 7 | 3 of 7 | 4 of 7 |
| East South Central | 3 | 34.5 | Tennessee 28.8 | Mississippi 39.0 | 2 of 3 | 0 of 3 | 0 of 3 |
| West South Central | 4 | 28.9 | Oklahoma 20.6 | Louisiana 33.8 | 3 of 4 | 0 of 4 | 0 of 4 |
| Mountain | 7 | 17.8 | Idaho 9.6 | New Mexico 22.4 | 4 of 7 | 2 of 7 | 1 of 7 |
| Pacific | 4 | 20.2 | Washington 9.8 | Alaska 31.2 | 1 of 4 | 0 of 4 | 3 of 4 |
Every number in one file
The table behind all rankings is one CSV with 51 rows and 34 columns: prices, change, use, bills, income, outage minutes, CO2, generation mix, degree-days, solar output, heat pump costs. Download state-metrics-2025.csv
Sources
From EIA retail sales, EIA-861, EPA eGRID, EIA-923 and 860, Census ACS, EIA gas prices, NOAA degree-days, PVWatts.
Periods, retrieval dates and licences: data sources.
Questions
Which state is best overall?
There is no single answer. Equal weight on price, reliability, CO2, renewable share and income burden gives Idaho, then Washington and South Dakota. Change what you care about with the sortable scorecard.
Which state has the cheapest electricity?
North Dakota at 11.81 ¢ per kWh for homes in 2025. See the cheapest electricity ranking.
Where is power the most reliable?
Illinois, with 57 minutes of outage per customer in 2024, major events excluded. Weighted by home accounts and based on EIA-861.
Which grid is the cleanest?
Vermont: 43 lb of CO2 per MWh of generation, against 767 lb for the U.S. (EPA eGRID 2023).
How are the rankings made?
Each page ranks 50 states and DC on one measure, from a named public source, with the method, date and licence on the page. Where a state lacks data it is not ranked and the page says so.
Can I download the data?
Yes. Every table has a CSV button, and the whole cross-source state table is one file.
How often is it updated?
The pages are rebuilt when a source updates. Prices are EIA 2025 annual data, outages 2024, generation 2025, eGRID 2023; each page gives its dates.