One candidate in the 2024 U.S. presidential election has suggested that the polio vaccine caused increased rates of cancer in his generation and declared that “There’s no vaccine that is, you know, safe and effective.” Another candidate for the highest office in the land said at a recent rally that if he is elected, he “will not give one penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate.”
The development of vaccines for COVID-19, first made available in late 2020, saved countless lives in America and around the world — and reinvigorated a vocal and persistent anti-vaccine movement that has, among other things, called the vaccines poison, blamed them for deaths by cardiac arrest, and even claimed that they contain microchips that will enable the government to track our every movement.
Fear-mongering opposition to vaccines long predates COVID, however. Variolation, a predecessor of vaccination used to combat smallpox, was condemned on religious grounds as early as 1722. Vaccination, which came into use in the early 1800s, attracted critics almost at once, and the first organized opposition to the practice in the U.S. came in 1879 with the establishment of the Anti-Vaccination Society of America. Since then, suspicion of this disease-fighting, life-saving technique has never abated.
Before COVID, the most outspoken anti-vaxxing activism in recent years concerned the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine, spurred by a fraudulent paper by a British doctor published in 1998 in The Lancet, a highly respected medical journal, which purported to show proof that the vaccine caused colitis and autism spectrum disorders. The paper was widely condemned and discredited and later retracted by the journal, but it remains part of the anti-vaxxer canon. (Publication of the paper is considered one of the worst medical scandals in history.)
One of the diseases targeted, measles, was virtually eradicated in America by 2000, thanks to the vaccine, but it is now reappearing — there have been 58 cases in 17 states so far this year — almost certainly due to anti-vaccination sentiment. And the issue isn’t exclusive to America. The World Health Organization has called vaccine resistance one of the top global health challenges and estimates that vaccinations of various kinds prevent between four and five million deaths per year worldwide. And while vaccination, like any medical procedure, isn’t entirely risk-free, the WHO notes that “so few deaths can plausibly be attributed to vaccines that it is hard to assess the risk statistically.”
A majority of the residents of some states obviously trust the science behind vaccination, while a majority in some other states shows obvious signs of distrust, judging from the considerable variation in vaccination rates from place to place. To compile a list of the states with the highest share of residents who get vaccinated, 24/7 Tempo reviewed “States That Vaccinate the Most,” a study conducted by WalletHub, a personal financial site.
The site compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 16 differently weighted key metrics in three categories: immunization rates for children and teenagers, vaccination rates among adults and the elderly, and immunization uptake disparities and influencing factors (such as share of children living in poverty and share of people without health insurance). Numerous kinds of vaccines were considered. Each state was assigned an overall score out of 100 possible points, with the highest scores indicating the most vaccinated residents. Data was collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services Administration, IBTimes, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and ProCon.org.
Scroll down to see the states that vaccinated the most in 2023:
51. Mississippi
- Overall score: 18.63/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 51 – the lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 51 – the lowest
50. Alaska
Seattle is a coastal seaport city and the seat of King County, in the U.S. state of Washington. With an estimated 652,405 residents as of 2013, Seattle is the largest city in both the State of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America and the fastest-growing major city in the United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of around 3.6 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the United States. The city is situated on a narrow isthmus between Puget Sound (an inlet of the Pacific Ocean) and Lake Washington, about 100 miles (160 km) south of the CanadaâUnited States border. A major gateway for trade with Asia, Seattle is the 8th largest port in the United States and 9th largest in North America in terms of container handling.The Seattle area had previously been inhabited by Native Americans for at least 4,000 years before the first permanent European settlers. Arthur A. Denny and his group of travelers, subsequently known as the Denny Party, arriv...
- Overall score: 38.93/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 50 – 2nd lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 34 – 18th lowest
49. Arizona
- Overall score: 39.8/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 46 – 6th lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 42 – 10th lowest
48. Georgia
- Overall score: 40/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 45 – 7th lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 46 – 6th lowest
47. Wyoming
- Overall score: 41.01/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 48 – 4th lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 41 – 11th lowest
46. Oklahoma
- Overall score: 41.05/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 47 – 5th lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 37 – 15th lowest
45. Texas
- Overall score: 41.5/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 39 – 13th lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 45 – 7th lowest
44. Nevada
- Overall score: 41.51/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 33 – 19th lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 49 – 3rd lowest
43. Alabama
- Overall score: 42.85/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 21 – 21st highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 47 – 5th lowest
42. West Virginia
- Overall score: 42.85/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 49 – 3rd lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 27 – 25th lowest
41. Louisiana
- Overall score: 42.93/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 30 – 22nd lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 48 – 4th lowest
40. New Jersey
- Overall score: 44.18/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 36 – 16th lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 44 – 8th lowest
39. Hawaii
- Overall score: 44.37/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 43 – 9th lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 36 – 16th lowest
38. Florida
Dodge Challenger
- Overall score: 44.71/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 20 – 20th highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 50 – 2nd lowest
37. South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina, USA in the French Quarter.
- Overall score: 48.46/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 34 – 18th lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 39 – 13th lowest
36. New York
- Overall score: 49.01/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 26 – 26th highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 40 – 12th lowest
35. Idaho
- Overall score: 49.78/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 24 – 24th highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 38 – 14th lowest
34. Indiana
- Overall score: 49.88/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 41 – 11th lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 33 – 19th lowest
33. Tennessee
- Overall score: 50.89/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 28 – 24th lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 35 – 17th lowest
32. Kentucky
- Overall score: 50.89/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 44 – 8th lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 29 – 23rd lowest
31. Arkansas
- Overall score: 50.95/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 8 – 8th highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 43 – 9th lowest
30. Montana
- Overall score: 51.93/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 42 – 10th lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 20 – 20th highest
29. Ohio
- Overall score: 51.96/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 37 – 15th lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 28 – 24th lowest
28. Missouri
- Overall score: 52.4/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 38 – 14th lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 23 – 23rd highest
27. California
- Overall score: 52.8/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 32 – 20th lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 30 – 22nd lowest
26. Illinois
Chicago North Skyline from the Navy PierJuly 2019 - Edited and uploaded 2021/03/28
- Overall score: 53.51/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 19 – 19th highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 31 – 21st lowest
25. Delaware
- Overall score: 54.47/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 15 – 15th highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 32 – 20th lowest
24. New Mexico
- Overall score: 55.21/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 22 – 22nd highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 25 – 25th highest
23. Michigan
- Overall score: 55.57/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 40 – 12th lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 17 – 17th highest
22. Kansas
- Overall score: 56.61/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 31 – 21st lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 18 – 18th highest
21. District of Columbia
- Overall score: 56.77/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 14 – 14th highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 24 – 24th highest
20. Utah
- Overall score: 57.55/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 16 – 16th highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 21 – 21st highest
19. South Dakota
- Overall score: 58.92/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 29 – 23rd lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 10 – 10th highest
18. Nebraska
- Overall score: 60.02/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 25 – 25th highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 16 – 16th highest
17. Oregon
N/A
- Overall score: 61.29/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 27 – 25th lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 13 – 13th highest
16. Virginia
- Overall score: 62.86/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 12 – 12th highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 14 – 14th highest
15. Minnesota
Aerial view of Minneapolis, Minnesota and the Lowry Ave bridge over the Mississippi river
- Overall score: 63.84/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 35 – 17th lowest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 5 – 5th highest
14. North Carolina
- Overall score: 64.52/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 4 – 4th highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 26 – 26th highest
13. Pennsylvania
- Overall score: 65.09/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 5 – 5th highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 19 – 19th highest
12. Maryland
- Overall score: 65.46/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 7 – 7th highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 15 – 15th highest
11. Maine
- Overall score: 65.61/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 23 – 23rd highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 3 – 3rd highest
10. Colorado
- Overall score: 65.64/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 13 – 13th highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 8 – 8th highest
9. New Hampshire
- Overall score: 65.81/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 11 – 11th highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 4 – 4th highest
8. Wisconsin
- Overall score: 66.11/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 18 – 18th highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 2 – 2nd highest
7. North Dakota
- Overall score: 66.56/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 9 – 9th highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 9 – 9th highest
6. Washington
Alaskan Way Viaduct Traffic, Seattle, WashingtonPhoto credit: Tony Webster via Flickrwww.flickr.com/photos/diversey/17903326752/in/album-72157...
- Overall score: 67/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 10 – 10th highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 6 – 6th highest
5. Connecticut
- Overall score: 68.02/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 3 – 3rd highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 22 – 22nd highest
4. Vermont
- Overall score: 69.7/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 17 – 17th highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 1 – the highest
3. Iowa
- Overall score: 70.31/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 6 – 6th highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 7 – 7th highest
2. Rhode Island
- Overall score: 74.88/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 2 – 2nd highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 11 – 11th highest
1. Massachusetts
- Overall score: 75.74/100
- Children & teens immunization rates rank: 1 – the highest
- Adult & elderly vaccination rates rank: 12 – 12th highest