America's Top States For Business '09

Cost of Doing Business - 2009

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

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

Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
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