CNBC ranks Utah third among top business states

Utah is ranked third overall among states in a list of “America’s Top Five States for Business,” compiled by CNBC.

The state moved up from the No. 8 position last year. This year, it trails only No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Washington.

The CNBC study ranked the states based on their scores in 10 categories of competitiveness. The study included 64 metrics across those categories.

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“The tried-and-true methodology rates the states based on the attributes that matter most to business,” CNBC said. “To do that, we score every state’s economic development marketing materials to see what they are pitching to businesses. The more frequently a selling point appears, the more weight it carries in the study.”

The study noted that Utah’s Silicon Slopes tech region is “thriving,” with more than 6,500 startups and tech companies now based there. “Along with that comes growing demand for housing, which is fueling a construction boom,” CNBC said. “Utah has added some 50,000 jobs in the past year — a 3.4 percent increase, which is the biggest in the nation.”

Utah had an overall score of 1,582 out of a possible 2,500 points. States behind Utah in this year’s top 10 are Virginia, Colorado, Minnesota, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Florida. The lowest-ranked state is Alaska. Other low-ranked states are Mississippi, West Virginia, Hawaii and Rhode Island.

In the 10 categories, Utah was ranked No. 2 for economy, No. 10 for infrastructure, No. 11 for workforce, No. 12 for both quality of life and business-friendliness, No. 18 for access to capital, No. 19 for technology and innovation, No. 22 for cost of living, No. 23 for cost of doing business and No. 34 for education.

The 64 metrics were developed with input from an array of business and policy experts, official government sources, the CNBC Global CFO Council, YPO and the states themselves.

Details are at https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/10/americas-top-states-for-business-2018.html. {/mprestriction}