CONCORD, N.H. – New Hampshire is the best state in New England and the second-best in the entire country, according to a new ranking from U.S News & World Report.
The “Best States” ranking for 2024 puts New Hampshire at No. 2, Vermont seventh and Massachusetts 10th. Connecticut came in at No. 20, and Rhode Island and Maine were in the bottom half of the pack at No. 26 and No. 28, respectively. Utah took the top spot on the list.
New Hampshire’s crime and safety ranking
New Hampshire was ranked first in the country when it comes to “crime & corrections.” That category considers the racial makeup of the prison population, juvenile incarceration and incarceration rate, as well as reports of property crime and violent crime.
In 2022, Nashua, New Hampshire was ranked the second-safest city in America by WalletHub.
Massachusetts scores highly in education, health care
Massachusetts did best in the health care category, ranking second among states. The ranking considered insurance coverage, hospital ratings and public health.
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Massachusetts got high scores in education, though the state is used to being No. 1 in that field. Florida and Utah were both ranked ahead of Massachusetts by U.S. News.
New Hampshire far ahead of Massachusetts in “opportunity”
One area where New Hampshire ranked far ahead of Massachusetts was the “opportunity” category. New Hampshire was ranked No. 10 for opportunity and Massachusetts was 46th. For that factor, U.S. News looked at racial and gender economic gaps, household income, the poverty rate and affordability.
According to Zillow, the average home value in New Hampshire is just over $474,000. In Massachusetts, it’s more than $622,000.
Click here for the full ranking of the best states.
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Neal Riley
Neal J. Riley is a digital producer for CBS Boston. He has been with WBZ-TV since 2014. His work has appeared in The Boston Globe and The San Francisco Chronicle. Neal is a graduate of Boston University.
CONCORD, N.H. – New Hampshire lawmakers have moved to reject a Republican-backed proposal to launch an impeachment inquiry into the lone Democrat on the state’s five-member Executive Council.
On Friday, a key committee of lawmakers delivered a unanimous 17-0 vote against an impeachment inquiry into Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill of Lebanon, N.H.
The vote on House Resolution 41 followed an abbreviated public hearing, after the bill’s sponsor withdrew his support for the proposal and instead asked lawmakers on the committee to recommend killing it.
The push for Liot Hill’s impeachment was led by Representative Joe Sweeney, a Salem Republican and the deputy majority leader in the New Hampshire House.
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At issue were several emails Liot Hill had sent from her official account to help a partisan law firm identify voters impacted by a new state law. The law tightened voter ID requirements for absentee ballots.
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Sweeney had previously called Liot Hill’s correspondence “political lawfare run out of a taxpayer-funded inbox.” In December, a review by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office found that Liot Hill’s conduct was not illegal and did not constitute a misuse of office, clearing the complaint against her.
Reached by the Globe on Friday, Sweeney, who was not present at the public hearing, said in a statement he preferred to let voters decide whether Liot Hill should continue to serve in the upcoming November election.
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“After reviewing the matter and hearing the discussion, I believe the appropriate course is to move forward and allow the voters and the political process to do their work,” he said.
“The purpose of filing the resolution was to ensure that the constitutional questions raised were addressed seriously and transparently,” he said, noting that he stands by the process and the decision to recommend killing the resolution.
In an interview, Liot Hill said she was pleased with the unanimous vote from the House Judiciary Committee.
“The committee vote, I think, sends the message that there was no merit to this,” she said.
The proposal now heads to the full House of Representatives, which has the power to approve the committee’s recommendation to reject it.
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Amanda Gokee can be reached at amanda.gokee@globe.com. Follow her @amanda_gokee.
A woman has been arrested in connection with the death of her baby whose body was found in a pond in Manchester, New Hampshire last year. Hepay Juma, 26, of Manchester, is now charged with reckless second-degree murder.
The New Hampshire Attorney General said Juma was arrested for “causing the death of Baby Jane “Grace” Doe, her child, under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life.”
On March 27, 2025, the baby’s body was found floating in the water at Pine Island Park in Manchester. The baby’s death was treated as suspicious following an autopsy.
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Investigators have not released any information about how they made the arrest or how the baby died.
Hepay Juma, 26, of Manchester, NH, is charged in connection with the death of her baby.
Manchester, NH police
At the time, Manchester Police Chief Peter Marr said the baby’s death was “extremely tragic.”
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Police asked the public for help after the baby’s body was discovered. They wanted to know if anyone saw someone discarding anything in the water in the previous 14 days, or if anyone knew a pregnant woman who gave birth during that time who needed medical help.
A funeral was held for baby Grace Doe last May, and the public was invited to pay their respects. “The way she was discarded is heartbreaking, and it is important that we give her a proper farewell,” Chief Marr said last year.
The baby was named Grace by police “to celebrate the kindness extended to her by those who refuse to let her life go unrecognized.”
Juma is scheduled to be arraigned on Friday in Manchester District Court.
