CNBC tabs Utah as America's 'Top State for Business'

Utah has topped an CNBC list of “America’s Top States for Business.”

The state has placed in the top 10 every year of the study, which is in its 10th year.
CNBC Digital analysis of states featured a complete economic snapshot, including employment, budget, tax and housing data. The rankings were determined by scoring each state using publicly available data on more than 60 measures of competitiveness.

CNBC Digital analysis of states featured a complete economic snapshot, including employment, budget, tax and housing data. The rankings were determined by scoring each state using publicly available data on more than 60 measures of competitiveness. The methodology was developed with input from business and policy experts, official government sources, the CNBC Global CFO Council and the states themselves. States received points based on their rankings in each metric, which were then separated into 10 broad categories. The categories are weighted based on how frequently it is used as a selling point in state economic development marketing materials — in essence, grading the states on the criteria they use to sell themselves.

Utah scored 1,598 out of 2,500 points. Its best ranking is “economy,” where it was third. Its worst was “access to capital,” which is No. 24. Utah also was 12th for workforce, 19th for cost of doing business, 13th for infrastructure, 13th for quality of life, 16th for technology and innovation, 23rd for education, 10th for business-friendliness, and 22nd for cost of living.

The study noted that Utah’s individual and corporate taxes are both 5 percent and the state and local sales taxes top out at 8.35 percent. Unemployment in Utah is well below the national average, with some of the strongest job growth in the nation.

“In the 10 years we have been doing this study, Utah has always been a contender. But this year, the state truly outdid itself,” said Scott Cohn, a CNBC special correspondent. “It is the first time in the history of our study that a winning state has finished in the top half of each of our 10 categories. That means that Utah is relatively strong even in its weakest areas.”

Following Utah in the list were No. 2 Texas, tops in economy and No. 40 in education, its lowest ranking; No. 3 Colorado, tops in workforce and No. 37 in cost of doing business; No. 4 Minnesota, second in quality of life and education and No. 35 in cost of doing business; and No. 5 North Caroina, second in access to capital and No. 30 in infrastructure and quality of life.

Rankings for all 50 states are available at topstates.cnbc.com. The site also has stories and slideshows, including the best and worst states to live in, the least and most expensive states, and the smartest states in 2016, among others.