1. Washington

George Kavallines | CNBC

Category	Score	2017 Rank	2016 Rank
Workforce	352	5	11
Infrastructure	173	32 (Tie)	39 (Tie)
Cost of Doing Business	163	32 (Tie)	30
Economy	257	3	6
Quality of Life	224	5	8
Technology & Innovation	172	3	1
Education	119	19	24
Business Friendliness	65	31	30 (Tie)
Access to Capital	82	8	10
Cost of Living	14	37	37
Overall	1621	1	6

Economic Profile

Governor: Jay Inslee, Democrat

Population: 7,288,000

GDP growth (Q4 2016): 3.1 percent

Unemployment rate (May 2017): 4.5 percent

Top corporate tax rate: None (levies a gross receipts tax)

Top individual income tax rate: None

Gasoline tax: 49.40 cents/gallon

Bond rating/outlook (Moody's, S&P): Aa1, AA+ stable

Major private employers: Costco Wholesale, Microsoft

Economic profile sources: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federation of Tax Administrators, American Petroleum Institute (excluding 18.40 cent/gallon federal tax), Moody's Investor Service, S&P Global Market Intelligence

America's Top States for Business 2017: The full list