These are the states with the most ‘freedom.’ Here’s where Florida stands

On Tuesday, Florida state officials announced that the Sunshine State’s welcome signs would be revamped to include the phrase, “Free State of Florida.”

But how free is Florida, really?

According to the Cato Institute’s “Freedom in the 50 States” index, Florida actually ranks fairly high.

The index measures each state’s “Freedom Ranking” based on factors like business regulations, Second Amendment protections, drug legalization, incarceration rates and taxation — among many others.

Overall, Florida comes in at No. 2, sitting just behind New Hampshire in first place. South Dakota (No. 3), Nevada (No. 4) and Arizona (No. 5) all round out the top five spots.

“As we’ve noted in the past, the state attracts more than seniors, as others vote with their feet for good weather and the increased opportunity afforded by Florida’s freer society,” the index reads. “Florida does especially well on fiscal policy, on which it is No. 1 in the country.”

On the flip side, sitting at the bottom of the pack are New York (No. 50), Hawaii (No. 49), and California (No. 48).

However, Florida’s placement changes depending on what elements of freedom are being discussed. When it comes to many regulatory and personal freedoms, Florida actually ranks toward the middle of the pack.

The rest of these placements are as follows:

The data shows that Florida’s overall “Freedom Ranking” has stayed at No. 2 since 2015, when it rose from the No. 3 rank in the year prior.

While the index lauds Florida thanks to its tightened criteria for eminent domain, the state’s middling regulatory ranking stems in part from its high minimum wage, strict rules in the healthcare industry, and its growing use of Citizens Insurance.

And although Florida ranked highly on educational freedoms (largely thanks to its school choice programs), the index shows that it has some overt restrictions on other personal freedoms like drug use and gun rights (ex: open carry bans and waiting periods on all firearms).

To remedy some of the state’s failings in terms of freedoms in the index, the Cato Institute proposed the following policy changes:

• FISCAL: “Decentralize taxing and spending powers from counties to municipalities and make it easy for municipalities to control their own school districts. More choice of local government should make Floridians freer.”
• REGULATORY: “Reform the occupational licensing system. Candidates for deregulation include farm labor contractors, interior designers, clinical laboratory technologists, and opticians.”
• PERSONAL: “Enact the following criminal justice reforms: (a) close the equitable-sharing end run around state forfeiture law, and (b) end driver’s license suspensions for drug convictions unrelated to driving, as most of the country has done.”

Meanwhile, the remainder of the “Freedom in the 50 states” ranking is as follows:

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