2021 State Index

US states are less than halfway to achievement (score out of 100, Figure 1) of the global targets (SDGs) for economic, social, and environmental justice, with only nine years remaining to meet the goals. The best performing states are Vermont (1st) and Massachusetts (2nd). The worst performing states are Louisiana (48th), West Virginia (49th), and Mississippi (50th). 

States are not improving quickly enough to meet the SDGs by 2030 and every state has at least 20% of indicators going in the wrong direction. If SDG progress were to be scored as an exam, nearly 2/3 of state and indicator values would be getting an 'F' (Figure 2). To achieve the SDGs by 2030, states would need to improve scores by approximately five and a half points per year, which is more than the average state improvement over the last five years combined.

The lack of progress reflected in the results of this report represents the very real hunger, violence, disenfranchisement, and insecurity that people in the US face every day.

Data from this report highlight how unequal and strained the US healthcare and public service systems were before the pandemic hit, and preliminary data from the pandemic period demonstrate that these impacts have continued or worsened. Life expectancies worldwide have gone down as a result of the pandemic, including in high income and OECD countries like the US. These impacts underline the need for universal and equitable access to key services like healthcare, broadband, and other infrastructure.

As states work to minimize the devastating losses from COVID-19, evidence from this report shows that states with higher SDG scores are more likely to have higher vaccination rates and vice versa (Figure 3), highlighting how essential this framework is to supporting sustainable futures.

While all people will be impacted by the worsening climate crisis, non-white and poor communities are likely to be hit the hardest. According to the EPA (2021), these excluded racial communities are 41% more likely than white people to live in area impacted by global sea level rise, among other disparate impacts ("Climate Change and Social Vulnerability in the United States: A Focus on Six Impacts").

Bold, urgent action is needed to save the lives and ecosystems in the US and across the globe. The SDGs are a template for how to incorporate environmental action into policy of all types. There are also lessons that states can share with each other, for example states in the Mid-Atlantic outperform, on average, states in the West South Central region by almost 40 points on Goal 13 - Climate Change.

Data gaps, time lags, and lack of disaggregated data highlight the need for improvement in statistical capacity and new approaches to monitor SDG achievement. State-level data is missing on essential topics such as lead in water and outcomes for people with disabilities. Other areas, particularly those focused on justice and state violence, are woefully out of date and/or the official records are incomplete. Proper and safe stewardship of personal data and careful maintenance of data sovereignty must also be held in balance as data collection and demands grow. The SDGs provide a framework to advocate for a better world. Timely, disaggregated, boundaried, and complete data are essential to complete that aim.

Investigate progress in specific states, or compare state progress across 103 different measures of sustainability. See which states are moving fast enough to achieve the SDGs by 2030 and which states need to change course and get back on track.

The 2021 State Index project measures US state progress towards achieving all the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The index should be used to help states and regions understand where they're making progress, where they need to move faster, and where they're headed in the wrong direction. It highlights areas to hold leaders accountable to action, to promote interdisciplinary solutions, and to advocate for improved data. The results show measurable gaps in how states deliver sustainability to excluded groups. It was prepared by a group of independent experts at SDSN.

UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)

The  UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)  mobilizes scientific and technical expertise from academia, civil society, and the private sector to support practical problem solving for sustainable development at local, national, and global scales. The SDSN has been operating since 2012 under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The SDSN is building national and regional networks of knowledge institutions, solution-focused thematic networks, and the  SDG Academy , its flagship online education initiative.

SDSN USA

 SDSN USA  is a network of 150+ research institutions across the United States and unincorporated territories. The network builds pathways toward achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the United States by mobilizing research, outreach, collective action, and global cooperation. SDSN USA is one of more than 40 national and regional SDSN networks globally. It is hosted by the  UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network  (SDSN) in New York City, and is chaired by Professors Jeffrey Sachs (Columbia University), Helen Bond (Howard University), Dan Esty (Yale University), and Gordon McCord (UC San Diego).