Most Corrupt States 2024

In a perfect world, we wouldn't have to worry about corruption. We could rest assured that our local, state, and federal governments look out for their citizens' best interests. Unfortunately, many nations worldwide deal with corruption – including the United States. According to the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), the United States is the 25th-least corrupt country. Although the United States may not be as corrupt as many other nations globally, there have been some notable scandals and evidence of corruption throughout the years. In some states, this is more prevalent than others.

Why Is It So Difficult to Measure Corruption?

Corruption statistics can be notoriously misleading. One of the main reasons is that governments are largely responsible for passing their own anti-corruption laws—and corrupt officials are less likely to do so. As a result, states with lower levels of corruption often have a higher number of corruption convictions—thanks to more robust laws for preventing, detecting, and punishing corruption—than states with higher levels of corruption, but weaker anti-corruption laws, which lead to fewer convictions.

Additionally, different evaluator's perceptions of "corruption" may differ. For example, some may consider only illegal acts to be corruption (and exactly what is and is not legal can vary by state as well). Others may include acts that are legal, but arguably immoral. For example, a politician who votes against legislation that would benefit his or her constituents, but is opposed by a major campaign donor is not breaking the law, but is arguably corrupt. Additional examples of arguable corruption include redirecting funding intended for a particular cause to instead go to a different cause they personally favor, or awarding a government contract to a business with whom they have a personal relationship rather than allowing multiple companies to submit bid proposals.

Determining Corruption by State

Measuring corruption in a state is an imperfect science. To create the least distorted impression, most indexes compile multiple metrics together, which helps compensate for shortcomings in any single metric. Three of the most prominent corruption indices are the Center for Public Integrity's 2015 State Integrity Investigation (SII), the Coalition for Integrity's 2020 and 2018 States With Anti-Corruption Measures for Public Officials (SWAMP) Indices, and Best Life's 2021 Most Corrupt State study, all of which compile several corruption-related metrics. Best Life study compiled both the SII and SWAMP indices (which are themselves composites) and added additional data, including the number of public corruption convictions per 10,000 residents and the number of reported violations by medical providers between 1990-2020 (both adverse action reports and medical malpractice payment reports). Each metric was then given a weighted value and ultimately compiled into a single Corruption Index Score ranging from 100 (most corrupt) to 0 (least corrupt).

The Institute for Corruption's 2018 Corruption in America Survey took a different approach, surveying reporters on the degree of legal and illegal corruption they perceived in the various state government branches. Finally, statistics site FiveThirtyEight analyzed corruption in 2015 using four different metrics and concluded that the true level of corruption in a given state is quite difficult to pin down, as different individual metrics can give wildly differing impressions.

Which US States Are the Most Corrupt?

The answer to this question depends heavily upon which study one is examining.

Based on Best Life's analysis, the state with the lowest corruption score was Kentucky, followed by Illinois, South Dakota, and Alaska. The ten states with the highest corruption scores were (in order) Vermont, Utah, Arizona, Oregon, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Washington. This result is arguably surprising given that Vermont is considered one of the safest states and boasts a low crime rate.

However, as mentioned previously, a high index score can indicate high corruption, but could also indicate the opposite scenario: heightened vigilance against corruption (which can lead to higher conviction totals, for example).

Due to complexities such as these, corruption rankings are best viewed as a jumping-off point for conversations about corruption rather than the last word on the matter. True understanding of each state's actual level of corruption required deep dives into the data and examination of the specific laws, leadership, and scenarios present in each state.