America's Top States For Business

Cost of Doing Business - 2008

Cost is a major consideration when a company chooses a state. We looked at the tax burden, including individual income and property taxes, business taxes, even the gasoline tax. Utility costs can add up to a huge expense for business, and they vary widely by state. We also looked at the cost of wages and state workers’ compensation insurance, as well as rental costs for office and industrial space.

Here are the ten categories ranked in our study:

- Cost of Doing Business
- Workforce
- Economy
- Education
- Quality of Life
- Technology & Innovation
- Transportation
- Cost of Living
- Business Friendliness
- Access to Capital

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

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