40. Louisiana (Tie)

The Pelican State has worked to improve its business climate; it has one of the lowest tax burdens in the nation. But work remains to be done on the economy and environment.

Published 4:16 PM ET Tue, 24 June 2014 Updated 3:16 PM ET Wed, 2 July 2014 CNBC.com

Category	Score	2014 Rank	2013 Rank
Cost of Doing Business	346	3	10
Workforce	143	26	22
Quality of Life	78	47	50
Infrastructure & Transportation	158	36	41
Economy	161	44 (Tie)	35
Education	47	44	40
Technology & Innovation	98	36	28
Business Friendliness	61	39 (Tie)	39
Cost of Living	47	4	20
Access to Capital	2	47 (Tie)	35
Overall	1141	40 (Tie)	43

Economic Profile

Governor: Bobby Jindal, Republican

Population: 4,625,470

GDP growth: 1.3 percent

Unemployment rate (May 2014): 4.5 percent

Top corporate tax rate: 8 percent

Top individual income tax rate: 6 percent

Gasoline tax: 38 cents/gallon

Bond rating/outlook: Aa2/stable

Major private employer: Ochsner Health System

Economic profile sources: Federation of Tax Administrators, American Petroleum Institute, Moody's Investor Service, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Louisiana FY 2013 CAFR

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