First, a series of surveys asked more than 30,000 people to prioritize a series of qualities about their state in categories such as health care, education, economy and quality of life.

Then McKinsey, the survey firm, teamed up with U.S. News & World Report to rank each of the 50 states in each category. And finally, U.S. News combined those surveyed priorities with the individual category rankings to come up with a score for each state. | More at NH Watchdog