Maryland placed in the middle of a new national ranking measuring how well states support immigrant communities, scoring higher on social factors but lower on economic and legal measures.
What’s Happening: SmileHub, a nonprofit organization, released its 2026 Best States for Immigrants study today, comparing all 50 states across 16 metrics including immigrant population share, employment rates, housing costs, and hate crime incidents. Maryland ranked 17th overall with a total score of 53.78 out of 100.
What’s Important: Maryland’s ranking shows uneven performance across three categories. The state ranked 4th in social environment and support, which measures factors like community charities, immigrant population share, and public school quality. Maryland ranked 38th in economic environment, which includes employment rates, income gaps, and housing affordability. The state ranked 39th in legal environment and stability, which tracks crime rates and hate crime incidents.
By the Numbers: More than 53 million immigrants live and work in the United States. The study evaluated states on factors ranging from the share of foreign-born entrepreneurs to the number of hate crime incidents per capita. Virginia ranked first overall with a score of 60.98, while Alaska ranked last at 33.03.
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