Worst states to practice medicine in 2021

In 2019, the Nutmeg State ranked a respectable #27, but the years have not been kind.

The state scored high marks in family friendliness (#9) and community well-being (#6), but the professional landscape proved to be a drag. Cost of living (#44), physician density (#40), tax friendliness (#49), and the higher education environment (#43) were too much to overcome.

Another newcomer to the list no one wants to be on, Ohio appeared to fall victim to mediocrity.

While the Buckeye State didn’t rank near the absolute bottom in any particular category, it hung around the lowest tiers in enough of them to drag its score down. Pay (#39), malpractice cost (#40), taxes (#31), healthcare quality (#33), higher-ed environment (#35), and community well-being (#39) far outweighed the state’s highest ranking, which was cost of living (#14).

Gorgeous views and tasty bourbon, but the healthcare environment could be better.

The lone bright spot for Kentucky came in the form of physician density (#8), which makes sense when taking into consideration some of the other categories. Pay (#31), healthcare quality (#46), US News and World Report’s overall ranking (#41), and community well-being (#47) were just some of the factors that dragged down the Bluegrass State’s scores.

Although the Keystone state is flush with colleges, unfortunately its low graduation rates, the high cost of tuition, and the amount of student loan debt all contributed to its dead-last rating in the higher-education environment. 

Rankings for physician density (#38), malpractice cost (#48), US News ranking (#40), and taxes (#35) certainly didn’t help matters. However, it is home to the outstanding Mütter museum (and MDLinx), so it can’t be all bad.

Oklahoma: not OK.

The cost of living may be low (#3) and there may not be a lot of physician competition (#5), but there were other difficulties for the Sooner State. Pay (#41), overall healthcare quality (#45), US News ranking (#43), and family friendliness (#46) all played a part in placing the birthplace of Will Rogers low on the list.

Home to a little land and a lot of people, Little Rhody had one good thing going for it in this year’s roundup: cost of malpractice insurance (#6). 

However, Rhode Island was solidly behind the pace in pay (#45), cost of living (#43), physician density (#46), taxes (#42), and higher education (#49).

Low cost of living, but dead last in healthcare quality.

It’s a good thing the cost of living is low (#4), because so is the pay (#48). While the Ozark mountains offer some amazing hikes and scenery, the Natural State got low marks for family friendliness (#45), higher education environment (#41), community well-being (#48), and healthcare quality (#50).

Home to Motown, some pretty great lakes, and some pretty bad ratings.

In 2019, the Wolverine State ranked #36. This year, Michigan suffered in pay (#46), healthcare quality (#42), family friendliness (#31), and higher education environment (#42). The only category where the state was not near the bottom of the pack was cost of living (#11).

Louisiana is the land of great music, great people, great parties, and great food. But when it comes to healthcare quality, it ranks near the bottom in almost every category.

For those physicians relocating to Louisiana, you can expect low pay (#42), low taxes (#15), and low healthcare quality (#47). The Bayou State also received low marks in places to raise a family (#47) and higher education environment (#48). It also had the unpleasant distinction of being ranked last in the US News list (#50).

This is the second time the Mountain State has held the unfortunate title of MDLinx’s worst state to practice medicine. 

The lone bright spot this year was cost of living (#15). However, West Virginia scored near the bottom in nearly every other category, such as pay (#49), healthcare quality (#43), overall US News ranking (#47), places to raise a family (#48), higher education environment (#47), and community well-being (#49).

It wasn’t all bad news though: West Virginia performed admirably in malpractice cost (#22) and tax friendliness (#25). Good luck next year, Mountaineers!

Continue reading for the full list of the worst 25 states to practice medicine.