America's Top States For Business '09

Education - 2009

Education and business go hand in hand. Not only do companies want to draw from an educated pool of workers, they want to offer their employees a great place to raise a family. Higher education institutions offer companies a source to recruit new talent, as well as a partner in research and development. We looked at traditional measures of K-12 education including test scores, class size and spending. We also considered the number of higher education institutions in each state.

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

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