8. Colorado (Tie)

The Centennial State is focused on innovation. Its workforce is dynamic and capital is abundant, but high business taxes and cost of living can make things rocky.

Published 4:19 PM ET Tue, 24 June 2014 Updated 3:25 PM ET Wed, 2 July 2014 CNBC.com

Category	Score	2014 Rank	2013 Rank
Cost of Doing Business	177	35	37
Workforce	215	5	10
Quality of Life	202	12	15
Infrastructure & Transportation	185	29 (Tie)	23
Economy	280	8	7
Education	72	28 (Tie)	15
Technology & Innovation	230	9	8
Business Friendliness	135	16 (Tie)	17
Cost of Living	17	34	32
Access to Capital	25	1 (Tie)	11
Overall	1538	8 (Tie)	7

Economic Profile

Governor: John Hickenlooper, Democrat

Population: 5,268,367

GDP growth: 3.8 percent

Unemployment rate (May 2014): 6 percent

Top corporate tax rate: 4.63 percent

Top individual income tax rate: 4.63 percent

Gasoline tax: 40 cents/gallon

Bond rating/outlook: Aa1/stable

Major private employer: Wal-Mart

Economic profile sources: Federation of Tax Administrators, American Petroleum Institute, Moody's Investor Service, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Denver Business Journal

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