CNBC’s America's Top States for Business 2016 | Trade and Industry Development

CNBC’s America's Top States for Business 2016

Jul 15, 2016

A scorecard on state economic climate

We score all 50 states on more than 60 measures of competitiveness, developed with input from a broad and diverse array of business and policy experts, official government sources, the CNBC Global CFO Council and the states themselves. States receive points based on their rankings in each metric. Then we separate those metrics into 10 broad categories, weighted based on how frequently each is used as a selling point in state economic development marketing materials. That way, our study ranks the states based on the criteria they use to sell themselves. This year some states were tied. Learn more about our categories and methodology.

VIEW RANKINGS: Data Table | Chart | Maps

Overall

State

Workforce

Cost of Doing Business

Infra-structure

Economy

Quality of Life

Technology and Innovation

Education

Business Friendliness

Cost of Living

Access to Capital

1

Utah

12

19

13

3

13

16

23

10

22

24

2

Texas

8

23

2

1

37

10

40

18

21

7

3

Colorado

1

37

29

2

12

8

25

9

32

8

4

Minnesota

15

35

5

17

2

9

2

27

27

21

5

North Carolina

9

18

30

11

30

7

28

15

18

2

6

Washington

11

30

39

6

8

1

24

30

37

10

7

Michigan

29

12

27

7

32

6

19

30

10

4

8

Georgia

7

31

4

9

37

13

33

14

17

6

9

Iowa

37

2

16

29

9

23

17

15

12

40

10

Florida

14

32

10

4

26

17

26

22

28

14

11

Nebraska

19

15

20

19

18

31

9

7

15

31

12

North Dakota

4

29

6

26

7

44

14

4

26

33

13

Virginia

3

36

32

30

16

15

5

3

30

15

13

Wyoming

6

21

12

14

11

48

3

21

29

50

15

Idaho

28

6

25

12

20

34

49

5

7

22

16

Indiana

36

1

1

20

45

26

29

13

8

18

17

Oregon

31

27

37

5

6

14

34

38

36

22

18

Tennessee

22

10

2

21

46

24

40

6

5

17

19

South Dakota

32

4

28

33

14

44

21

2

20

32

20

Massachusetts

2

46

42

18

17

3

1

20

44

19

21

Ohio

43

15

7

22

34

21

13

37

9

9

22

Montana

45

8

24

13

10

40

27

23

24

40

23

Wisconsin

26

28

19

31

15

19

11

36

23

13

24

Illinois

16

24

16

34

35

11

4

48

34

1

25

Arizona

5

40

16

15

32

22

47

8

31

28

26

New Hampshire

26

39

49

16

4

29

11

1

42

43

27

South Carolina

20

19

21

24

31

32

42

27

19

29

28

Kansas

30

26

8

39

37

28

9

19

16

42

29

New York

35

44

43

10

22

4

8

45

49

11

30

Maryland

10

48

44

23

27

5

16

26

38

26

31

Missouri

49

14

9

34

49

25

14

15

11

20

32

California

21

49

33

8

23

2

38

50

47

2

33

Pennsylvania

33

34

35

42

29

12

21

35

35

12

34

New Jersey

16

42

44

36

19

17

6

44

41

5

35

Kentucky

46

5

14

40

42

37

29

41

2

38

36

Vermont

47

43

41

26

3

30

7

30

40

49

37

Delaware

13

38

36

26

28

27

45

11

48

46

38

Alabama

38

17

21

48

43

36

46

30

4

16

39

New Mexico

42

24

14

38

36

33

34

43

25

46

40

Nevada

23

22

11

37

41

42

50

23

33

44

41

Arkansas

34

9

21

32

50

47

36

42

3

39

42

Oklahoma

41

13

26

44

48

43

44

12

6

35

43

Connecticut

18

47

47

43

25

19

18

29

46

25

44

Louisiana

25

7

34

46

47

46

39

40

14

30

45

Alaska

38

41

37

41

20

41

37

25

45

36

46

Maine

50

33

48

49

5

39

31

34

39

27

47

Mississippi

44

3

31

50

44

50

48

47

1

34

47

West Virginia

40

11

39

47

40

49

32

49

13

48

49

Hawaii

48

50

46

25

1

38

43

46

50

37

50

Rhode Island

23

45

50

45

24

35

20

39

43

45

 

(Click to Expand)