5. Colorado

Jon Paciaroni | Getty Images

Interior of a commercial medical and recreational marijuana grow facility in Denver, Colorado.

Category	Score	2018 Rank	2017 Rank	Grade
Workforce	295	5	4	A+
Infrastructure	197	29	28	C+
Cost of Doing Business	142	37	38	C-
Economy	228	8	13	A-
Quality of Life	213	9	14 (Tie)	B
Technology & Innovation	164	7	7	A
Education	132	11	12	B+
Business Friendliness	95	17	8 (Tie)	B-
Access to Capital	81	11	12	A-
Cost of Living	17	34	32	D+
Overall	1564	5	6	-

Economic Profile

Governor: John Hickenlooper, Democrat

Population: 5,607,154

GDP growth (Q4 2017): 3.2 percent

Unemployment rate (May 2018): 2.8 percent

Top corporate tax rate: 4.63 percent

Top individual income tax rate: 4.63 percent

Gasoline tax: 22 cents/gallon

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

Major private employers: Wal-Mart, Centura Health, Dish Network Corp.

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

Overall Rankings 2018