Ready or Not 2025: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism
As the Nation grapples with a multistate measles outbreak, bird flu, and an increasing number and intensity of weather-related events this annual TFAH report measures states' preparedness for public health emergencies and makes recommendations to strengthen the nation’s public health system and improve emergency readiness.
News Release from Trust for America’s Health
(Washington, DC – March 27, 2025) – Ready or Not 2025: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism, measures states’ readiness for a range of health emergencies based on 10 indicators, including healthcare system readiness, state public health funding, public health laboratory surge capacity, employee access to paid time off, and community water system safety.
The report places states and the District of Columbia into three performance tiers for emergency preparedness. This year’s report placed 21 states and DC in the high-performance tier, 16 states in the middle-performance tier, and 13 states (including Hawaii) in the low-performance tier.
Table 2: State Public Health Emergency Preparedness -- State Performance, by scoring tier, 2024
Performance Tier -- States -- Number of States
High Tier
CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, ID, MA, MD, ME, MO, NC, NH, NJ, OH, PA, RI, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI
21 states and DC
Medium Tier
AL, AR, AZ, CA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, ND, NE, NY, OK, SC, TN, TX
16 states
Low Tier
AK, HI, LA, MI, MN, MS, MT, NV, NM, OR, SD, WV, WY
13 states
read … FULL REPORT
read … HAWAII REPORT
SA: Hawaii is ranked low for emergency readiness | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Big Q: How would you rate Hawaii on disaster/public health preparedness? | Honolulu Star-Advertiser