Yet again North Dakota is a top-five favorite in this year's America's Top States for Business. The state held strong for a second year in a row, taking the No. 3 spot, just two spots higher than its ranking in 2012. One of the main engines pushing the state higher in our rankings, and also nabbing it a No. 2 spot in our Economy category, is shale oil.
North Dakota's Bakken shale formation hit record oil production this April. Oil and gas also was the main reason why the state had the highest real GDP growth in America last year at 13.4 percent. An impressive rate when you consider the second-fast growing state last year was Texas at 4.08 percent.
(Read More: How Shale is 'Fracking' the Old Order)