48. Rhode Island

Rising quality of life helps the Ocean State to its best ranking yet, which isn’t saying much. Infrastructure is dead last.

Published 4:17 PM ET Wed, 24 June 2015 Updated 3:03 PM ET Mon, 13 June 2016 CNBC.com

Category	Score	2015 Rank	2014 Rank
Workforce	224	24	38
Cost of Doing Business	97	44 (Tie)	43
Infrastructure	86	50	50
Economy	136	39	44
Quality of Life	216	12	19
Technology & Innovation	102	33 (Tie)	34
Education	124	13	18
Business Friendliness	29	45 (Tie)	45
Cost of Living	14	42	42
Access to Capital	8	43 (Tie)	23
Overall	1036	48	50

Economic Profile

Governor: Gina Raimondo, Democrat

Population: 1,055,173

GDP growth: 1.2 percent

Unemployment rate (May 2015): 5.9 percent

Top corporate tax rate: 7 percent

Top individual income tax rate: 5.99 percent

Gasoline tax: 51 cents/gallon

Bond rating/outlook: Aa2/stable

Major private employer: Lifespan

Economic profile sources: Federation of Tax Administrators, American Petroleum Institute, Moody's Investor Service, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Rhode Island FY 2014 CAFR

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