Montana has claimed the top spot on personal finance website WalletHub’s annual ranking of the best states for physicians every year since 2023, cementing its status as the nation’s most physician-friendly state.
Midwestern states continue to dominate the list year after year, with Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska appearing in nearly every top-ten ranking since 2022.
In 2026, Wallethub based the list on 19 metrics, including physicians’ average annual wage, hospitals per capita and physician burnout. There were two main categories for the metrics: Opportunity and competition, and medical environment. The opportunity and competition category was worth up to 70 points, with the medical environment category worth up to 30 points.
2026:
- Montana
- Indiana
- Louisiana
- South Dakota
- Minnesota
- North Dakota
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Iowa
- Wisconsin
- Montana
- Indiana
- South Dakota
- Iowa
- Utah
- North Carolina
- Minnesota
- North Dakota
- Tennessee
- Wisconsin
2024:
- Montana
- South Dakota
- Nebraska
- Utah
- Indiana
- Minnesota
- Wisconsin
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Louisiana
2023:
- Montana
- South Dakota
- Idaho
- Wisconsin
- Minnesota
- Louisiana
- Utah
- Nebraska
- Iowa
- Indiana
- South Dakota
- Minnesota
- Wisconsin
- Montana
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Nebraska
- Kansas
- North Dakota
- Mississippi
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