Are you planning to open a business or expanding to a new location? In an annual survey, 513 CEOs ranked the best and worst states in the United States to do business.
Texas and Florida came out as the top two states in Chief Executive Magazine's 12th annual CEO opinion survey, which ranked states based on three factors: quality of the workforce, living conditions as well as business regulations and taxation.
The two states have been topping the annual survey in the past 12 years. CEOs favor Texas despite its shale energy crisis while Florida keeps getting better in terms of economic reforms.
In fact, Florida keeps improving each year. In the past five years alone, the state slashed taxes by 50 times, removed 4,200 "burdensome" regulations and gained about 1 million jobs in its private sector.
On the other hand, the Sunshine State's glow enabled it to surpass the Big Apple as the U.S.' third-biggest state for growing companies. As for the worst states, New York and California finished at the list's very bottom.
"Even allowing for geographic location and weather patterns that are immutable, state economic conditions vary widely. The evidence suggests that pro-growth policies influence perceptions of competitiveness, particularly in the eyes of business leaders," Chief Executive Magazine Editor-in-Chief J.P. Donlon said.
While the annual survey only focused on three factors, these cover a wide-range of factors affecting businesses in each state, including compliance, public transportation, workforce availability and incentives.
The top 5 best states are as follows:
- No. 1 - Texas (No. 1 in 2015)
- No. 2 - Florida (No. 2 in 2015)
- No. 3 - North Carolina (No. 3 in 2015)
- No. 4 - Tennessee (No. 4 in 2015)
- No. 5 - Indiana (No. 6 in 2015)
Below are the top 5 worst states:
- No. 46 - Connecticut (No. 45 in 2015)
- No. 47 - New Jersey (No. 47 in 2015)
- No. 48 - Illinois (No. 48 in 2015)
- No. 49 - New York (No. 49 in 2015)
- No. 50 - California (No. 50 in 2015)
The Chief Executive Magazine's full list can be viewed here.
Photo: Sean McGrath | Flickr
