America's Top States for Business 2016

We score all 50 states on more than 60 measures of competitiveness, developed with input from a broad and diverse array of business and policy experts, official government sources, the CNBC Global CFO Council and the states themselves. States receive points based on their rankings in each metric. Then we separate those metrics into 10 broad categories, weighted based on how frequently each is used as a selling point in state economic development marketing materials. That way, our study ranks the states based on the criteria they use to sell themselves. This year some states were tied. Learn more about our categories and methodology.

Full 2016 Top States coverage

VIEW RANKINGS: Data Table | Chart | Maps

Overall	State	Workforce	Cost of Doing Business	Infra-structure	Economy	Quality of Life	Technology and Innovation	Education	Business Friendliness	Cost of Living	Access to Capital
1	Utah	12	19	13	3	13	16	23	10	22	24
2	Texas	8	23	2	1	37	10	40	18	21	7
3	Colorado	1	37	29	2	12	8	25	9	32	8
4	Minnesota	15	35	5	17	2	9	2	27	27	21
5	North Carolina	9	18	30	11	30	7	28	15	18	2
6	Washington	11	30	39	6	8	1	24	30	37	10
7	Michigan	29	12	27	7	32	6	19	30	10	4
8	Georgia	7	31	4	9	37	13	33	14	17	6
9	Iowa	37	2	16	29	9	23	17	15	12	40
10	Florida	14	32	10	4	26	17	26	22	28	14
11	Nebraska	19	15	20	19	18	31	9	7	15	31
12	North Dakota	4	29	6	26	7	44	14	4	26	33
13	Virginia	3	36	32	30	16	15	5	3	30	15
13	Wyoming	6	21	12	14	11	48	3	21	29	50
15	Idaho	28	6	25	12	20	34	49	5	7	22
16	Indiana	36	1	1	20	45	26	29	13	8	18
17	Oregon	31	27	37	5	6	14	34	38	36	22
18	Tennessee	22	10	2	21	46	24	40	6	5	17
19	South Dakota	32	4	28	33	14	44	21	2	20	32
20	Massachusetts	2	46	42	18	17	3	1	20	44	19
21	Ohio	43	15	7	22	34	21	13	37	9	9
22	Montana	45	8	24	13	10	40	27	23	24	40
23	Wisconsin	26	28	19	31	15	19	11	36	23	13
24	Illinois	16	24	16	34	35	11	4	48	34	1
25	Arizona	5	40	16	15	32	22	47	8	31	28
26	New Hampshire	26	39	49	16	4	29	11	1	42	43
27	South Carolina	20	19	21	24	31	32	42	27	19	29
28	Kansas	30	26	8	39	37	28	9	19	16	42
29	New York	35	44	43	10	22	4	8	45	49	11
30	Maryland	10	48	44	23	27	5	16	26	38	26
31	Missouri	49	14	9	34	49	25	14	15	11	20
32	California	21	49	33	8	23	2	38	50	47	2
33	Pennsylvania	33	34	35	42	29	12	21	35	35	12
34	New Jersey	16	42	44	36	19	17	6	44	41	5
35	Kentucky	46	5	14	40	42	37	29	41	2	38
36	Vermont	47	43	41	26	3	30	7	30	40	49
37	Delaware	13	38	36	26	28	27	45	11	48	46
38	Alabama	38	17	21	48	43	36	46	30	4	16
39	New Mexico	42	24	14	38	36	33	34	43	25	46
40	Nevada	23	22	11	37	41	42	50	23	33	44
41	Arkansas	34	9	21	32	50	47	36	42	3	39
42	Oklahoma	41	13	26	44	48	43	44	12	6	35
43	Connecticut	18	47	47	43	25	19	18	29	46	25
44	Louisiana	25	7	34	46	47	46	39	40	14	30
45	Alaska	38	41	37	41	20	41	37	25	45	36
46	Maine	50	33	48	49	5	39	31	34	39	27
47	Mississippi	44	3	31	50	44	50	48	47	1	34
47	West Virginia	40	11	39	47	40	49	32	49	13	48
49	Hawaii	48	50	46	25	1	38	43	46	50	37
50	Rhode Island	23	45	50	45	24	35	20	39	43	45