20 States Best and Least Prepared for Climate Change and Extreme Weather

As part of its 2024 America’s Top States for Business study, media outlet CNBC has identified the 20 U.S. states most and least prepared for climate change and the extreme weather it brings. Published across two articles (one for the best prepared and one for the least prepared states), reporter Scott Cohn makes the case for why it’s an important topic.

From the increasing number of national disasters (“the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates weather and climate disasters in the U.S. did nearly $93 billion in damage last year”) to the fact that we’re all already paying for it (homeowners insurance is “up 27% nationwide since 2021, according to data compiled by online insurance marketplace Insurify,” and not just in states like Louisiana, which are seeing double-digit raises annually), sustainability is no longer a issue for the future. That future is here. Despite this fact, Cohn writes, some of the states that are more vulnerable than others “are not doing all they can to mitigate the risks.”

According to the article, the study weighted infrastructure the heaviest, and sustainability was a major factor in that category’s score. The study incorporated state-level figures from First Street, a flood risk research foundation, “for properties at risk of major damage from flooding, extreme heat, wildfires and wind in the next 30 years” and NOAA data “on extreme weather for the primary geographic regions in which state are situated,” as well as U.S. Department of Energy data on renewable power.

Some of the results, especially on the best-prepared list are surprising, Arizona in particular. The study appears to have weighted flood risk very heavily and, in the article’s analysis at least, glosses over the seriousness of extreme heat. The article reads: “The Grand Canyon State’s intense desert climate can be harsh in its own way, with 645 heat-related deaths last year alone in Maricopa County, home to Phoenix. But at the same time, only about 5% of properties are at risk of flooding.”

So while this study is an interesting lens through which to look at various states’ preparedness for climate change and extreme weather events (of which CNBC doesn’t seem to consider extreme heat one, despite recent calls from state attorney generals for FEMA to classify it as a major disaster), it’s important to keep in mind it was conducted through the lens of sustainability for businesses deciding where to locate their companies, not for the health of communities and the people who live in them.

The lists below are also interesting when considered in context with the analysis of the top 20 cities most and least threatened by climate change published by online insurance marketplace PolicyGenius earlier this year.

10 States Least Prepared for Climate Change and Extreme Weather

1. (tie) Louisiana

1.  (tie) New Jersey

3. Connecticut

4.  Mississippi

5. Ohio

6. Pennsylvania

7. New Hampshire

9. (tie) Texas

9. (tie) Delaware

10. Maryland

10 States Best Prepared for Climate Change and Extreme Weather

1. Nevada

2. Idaho

3. South Dakota

4. California

5. Colorado

6. Nebraska

7. New Mexico

8. Washington

9. Arizona

10. Oregon