34. Arizona

The Grand Canyon State is friendly to business, and the infrastructure is sound. But education is among the nation’s worst.

Published 4:30 PM ET Wed, 24 June 2015 Updated 2:47 PM ET Mon, 13 June 2016 CNBC.com

Category	Score	2015 Rank	2014 Rank
Workforce	240	14 (Tie)	2
Cost of Doing Business	115	40	28
Infrastructure	221	9 (Tie)	8
Economy	146	36 (Tie)	15
Quality of Life	147	31	27
Technology & Innovation	135	24 (Tie)	19
Education	52	49	50
Business Friendliness	102	13	16
Cost of Living	35	28	27
Access to Capital	26	25	5
Overall	1219	34	13

Economic Profile

Governor: Doug Ducey, Republican

Population: 6,731,484

GDP growth: 1.4 percent

Unemployment rate (May 2015): 5.8 percent

Top corporate tax rate: 6.0 percent

Top individual income tax rate: 4.54 percent

Gasoline tax: 37 cents/gallon

Bond rating/outlook: Aa2/stable

Major private employer: Banner Health

Economic profile sources: Federation of Tax Administrators, American Petroleum Institute, Moody's Investor Service, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, AZCentral.com

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