49: Hawaii

The Aloha State offers the nation’s best quality of life hands down, but residents and businesses pay dearly for it. The quality of the state’s roads and bridges is poor.

Category
Score
2014 Rank
2013 Rank
Cost of Doing Business 49 49 48
Workforce 87 49 45
Quality of Life 277 1 1
Infrastructure & Transportation 107 43 50
Economy 189 34 (Tie) 41
Education 50 42 40
Technology & Innovation 110 33 45
Business Friendliness 58 44 40
Cost of Living 2 49 50
Access to Capital 9 33 (Tie) 39
Overall 938 49 50

Economic Profile

Governor: Neil Abercrombie, Democrat

Population: 1,404,054

GDP growth: 1.9 percent

Unemployment rate (May 2014): 4.4 percent

Top corporate tax rate: 6.4 percent

Top individual income tax rate: 11 percent

Gasoline tax: 66 cents/gallon

Bond rating/outlook: Aa2/stable

Major private employer: Hawaii Pacific Health

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

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