Methodology

For the 2026–2027 rankings, U.S. News evaluated almost 4,500 U.S. hospitals. The hospitals were evaluated in two ways: specialty rankings and procedure and conditions ratings.

The specialty rankings included 14 specialty areas of care:

• Cancer
• Cardiology, heart and vascular surgery
• Diabetes and endocrinology
• Gastroenterology and GI surgery
• Geriatrics
• Neurology and neurosurgery
• Obstetrics and gynecology
• Ophthalmology
• Orthopedics
• Psychiatry
• Pulmonology and lung surgery
• Rehabilitation
• Rheumatology
• Urology

For 11 specialties, the rankings were based largely on objective data, such as Medicare claims and other publicly available data. Meanwhile, three specialties — ophthalmology, psychiatry, and rheumatology — were evaluated solely on expert opinion, using three years of surveys from physician specialists.

The best hospitals for 2026–2027

Overall, only 16% of the evaluated hospitals received a Best Hospitals designation. A total of 505 hospitals across 49 U.S. states earned a Best Regional Hospital designation, and 73 hospitals were recognized as Best Regional Hospitals for Community Access.

U.S. News recognized 20 hospitals as part of its "Honor Roll." According to U.S. News, hospitals on the Honor Roll are those "that have excellent results in treating patients in the full range of adult care – both performance in the Best Hospitals Specialty rankings and the Best Hospitals Procedures & Conditions."

The hospitals on the Honor Roll, listed in alphabetical order, were:

• Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston, MA)
• Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles, CA)
• Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland, OH)
• Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA)
• Houston Methodist Hospital (Houston, TX)
• Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore, MD)
• Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, MA)
• Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN)
• Mayo Clinic-Arizona (Phoenix, AZ)
• Mayo Clinic-Florida (Jacksonville, FL)
• Mount Sinai Hospital (New York, NY)
• NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell (New York, NY)
• Northwestern Medicine-Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Chicago, IL)
• NYU Langone Hospitals (New York, NY)
• Rush University Medical Center (Chicago, IL)
• Stanford Health Care-Stanford Hospital (Palo Alto, CA)
• UC San Diego Health-La Jolla, Hillcrest, and East Campus Medical Centers (San Diego, CA)
• UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center (Los Angeles, CA)
• UCSF Health-UCSF Medical Center (San Francisco, CA)
• University of Michigan Health-Ann Arbor (Ann Arbor, MI)

U.S. News also ranked top hospitals across multiple specialties including:

• Cancer: The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston, TX)
• Cardiology, heart and vascular surgery: NYU Langone Hospitals (New York, NY)
• Diabetes and endocrinology: Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN)
• Gastroenterology and GI surgery: Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN)
• Geriatrics: UCSF Health-UCSF Medical Center (San Francisco, CA)
• Neurology and neurosurgery: NYU Langone Hospitals (New York, NY)
• Obstetrics and gynecology: John Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore, MD)
• Ophthalmology: Bascom Palmer Eye Institute-University of Miami Hospital and Clinics (Miami, FL)
• Orthopedics: Hospital for Special Surgery (New York, NY)
• Psychiatry: Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, MA)
• Pulmonology and lung surgery: UCSF Health-UCSF Medical Center (San Francisco, CA)
• Rehabilitation: Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (Chicago, IL)
• Rheumatology: John Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore, MD)
• Urology: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York, NY)

"For nearly four decades, U.S. News has helped families and their medical providers navigate complex healthcare decisions," said Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor at U.S. News. "Because most patients choose providers close to home, this year's debut of regional specialty rankings ... gives them an easy new way to evaluate their local options in consultation with their medical providers."

See U.S. News' full "Best Hospitals" rankings across various specialties and regions here.