Politics Alabama
Best States for Business
This page was last updated: 31 May, 2012
Best States for Business:
Forbes.com has been ranking the best metro areas for business and careers for nine years, and this ranking of states looks at many of the same factors, including business and living costs, job and income growth, and educational attainment. But this ranking goes further in several ways.
First, Forbes looked at projections of job, income and gross state product growth. It also examined venture-capital money going into an area, as well as new businesses that have cropped up in the past three years. Another addition is the role that government plays on the business climate in terms of environmental and labor laws, and on taxes and incentives. These factors play out on the state level instead of on the local level. Overall, 32 criteria were examined to assemble the list.
The complete report and details can be found here.
Note: These figures were provided by Forbes.com, and Politics Alabama is not responsible for their accuracy.
2006 2007 Regu- Quality
State Rank Rank Costs Labor lation Economy Growth of life
Virginia 1 1 17 5 1 11 8 6
Utah 4 2 12 11 17 9 16 12
North Carolina 3 3 6 22 2 27 5 30
Texas 2 4 21 26 7 10 2 28
Washington 12 5 33 4 5 16 4 32
Idaho 6 6 11 10 30 3 23 27
Florida 9 7 31 15 12 1 3 35
Colorado 5 8 35 2 15 33 1 23
North Dakota 13 9 5 37 16 11 42 14
Minnesota 14 10 32 13 19 23 26 1
Delaware 8 11 7 14 32 39 14 15
Maryland 11 12 41 3 24 8 15 21
Tennessee 20 13 3 39 13 15 21 37
New Hampshire 18 14 39 1 42 14 13 5
Georgia 10 15 23 25 4 34 17 29
Missouri 22 16 14 20 8 44 37 17
Nebraska 7 17 15 36 11 30 38 13
Arizona 15 18 30 6 37 6 11 40
New Jersey 16 19 46 9 33 25 7 3
Kansas 21 20 29 18 8 49 22 18
Arkansas 24 21 9 40 22 17 9 45
Nevada 26 22 19 24 31 6 10 48
South Caraolina 27 23 20 28 6 36 17 43
Iowa 25 24 8 43 26 22 44 11
South Dakota 17 25 1 31 45 17 35 24
New Mexico 29 26 10 34 43 5 6 50
Indiana 32 27 4 46 18 40 39 20
Oregon 31 28 26 7 34 32 19 38
Wyoming 23 29 2 35 48 4 36 39
Oklahoma 19 30 18 47 14 20 30 36
Connecticut 28 31 44 8 40 37 24 4
Vermont 30 32 45 12 35 26 40 10
New York 35 33 48 33 20 21 26 19
California 36 34 50 17 39 17 12 26
Alabama 40 35 27 45 23 23 20 41
Massachusetts 37 36 49 19 29 47 29 2
Hawaii 42 37 47 16 38 2 40 33
Ohio 34 38 36 42 8 45 49 9
Pennsylvania 41 39 38 31 27 35 46 7
Illinois 44 40 47 30 20 46 31 22
Kentucky 33 41 16 41 28 48 25 34
Montana 38 42 24 21 47 13 48 42
Mississippi 48 43 13 48 25 40 34 47
Wisconsin 39 44 34 38 44 38 33 8
Rhode Island 43 45 42 23 49 28 28 25
Michigan 45 46 40 44 3 50 47 31
Alaska 47 47 28 29 36 42 32 44
Maine 46 48 43 27 46 30 42 16
Louisiana 50 49 22 50 41 43 45 49
West Virginia 49 50 25 49 50 29 50 46
