How Does South Dakota’s Hygiene Stack Up to the Rest of the U.S.?

It's something we were all supposed to be taking seriously long before the COVID-19 pandemic began, but for most of us, practicing good hygiene was somewhat of an afterthought.

So now that there's a renewed emphasis on being as germ conscious as possible, how does South Dakota rank among the states with the best hygiene in America?

Not great.

BestLife ranked all 50 states in terms of overall cleanliness and the Mount Rushmore State is in the bottom 10 nationally - at number 45.

Not surprisingly, South Dakota's prevailing casual attitude about wearing masks during the pandemic contributed greatly to dragging down the state's overall score. According to the numbers, 81.58 percent of people in South Dakota say they cover their faces properly when out in public - the lowest of any place in America.

When it comes to our teeth, the survey looked at WalletHub's dental health index and South Dakota's rating of 34.89 (out of 100) was eclipsed by only Mississippi.

STATES WITH THE WORST HYGIENE (BestLife)