13. Arizona

The Grand Canyon State offers a growing and independent workforce, good access to capital and a solid infrastructure. But its education system ranks worst in the nation.

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

Category	Score	2014 Rank	2013 Rank
Cost of Doing Business	233	28	31
Workforce	223	2	2
Quality of Life	144	27	29
Infrastructure & Transportation	232	8 (Tie)	10
Economy	246	15 (Tie)	43
Education	31	50	49
Technology & Innovation	185	19	19
Business Friendliness	135	16 (Tie)	16
Cost of Living	24	27	35
Access to Capital	23	5 (Tie)	33
Overall	1476	13	20

Economic Profile

Governor: Janice Brewer, Republican

Population: 6,626,624

GDP growth: 1.1 percent

Unemployment rate (May 2014): 6.9 percent

Top corporate tax rate: 6.5 percent

Top individual income tax rate: 4.54 percent

Gasoline tax: 37 cents/gallon

Bond rating/outlook: Aa3/postive

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, AZCentral.com

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