CNBC's annual "America's Top States for Business" report ranked all 10 Republican-led states at the bottom of its quality-of-life list, prompting accusations of bias on social media, particularly given that some of these states are seeing strong population growth according to US Census data. Critics argued the ranking methodology, which factors in issues such as reproductive rights and inclusiveness of state laws alongside crime and healthcare data, reflects a liberal-leaning bias rather than an objective quality-of-life measure.

The 10 states ranked worst, from tenth to first, were Arkansas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Missouri, Utah, Georgia, Louisiana, Indiana, Texas and Tennessee, all of which backed Donald Trump in the 2024 election. CNBC said quality of life now makes up 11.6% of a state's overall competitiveness score, up from about 10% the previous year, with factors including crime rates, air quality, healthcare, childcare costs and availability, and reproductive rights.