Best states for business: CNBC says Utah No. 3

Utah is ranked as the No. 3 state for business by CNBC, moving up one spot from the 2019 list.

CNBC announced recently that Virginia leads all U.S. states. Utah also trails No. 2 North Carolina but is ahead of No. 4 Texas and No. 5 Tennessee. Alaska was the lowest-ranked state. Also in the bottom five are Hawaii, Maine, West Virginia and Rhode Island.

CNBC scored the states on 85 metrics in 10 broad categories of competitiveness. Each category is weighted based on how frequently states use them as a selling point in economic development marketing materials. In other words, the study ranks the states based on the attributes they use to sell themselves. Data to measure the states’ performance come from a variety of courses.

Utah was ranked No. 3 among states for economy; No. 7 for infrastructure; No. 10 for business-friendliness; No. 17 for both workforce and access to capital; No. 19 for technology and innovation; No. 22 for cost of doing business; No. 26 for both education and cost of living; and No. 27 for life, health and inclusion.

“The Beehive State has been busy beefing up its infrastructure with one of America’s most reliable electrical grids, making a large jump from No. 17 in 2019 to No. 7 this year. However, Utah lags on public health funding, falling from ninth in nation to 27th,” the report said.

Details about the rankings are at topstates.cnbc.com.

Virginia has earned the top spot five times, dating back to 2007, which is more than any other state. It performed well in education and workforce.

“This year’s ‘Top States’ study was always going to be a verdict on which states were best poised to succeed coming out of the pandemic, and Virginia is a clear winner on that score,” said Scott Cohn, CNBC special correspondent. “Not only does it have the talent that companies are craving, it has also taken major steps in the area of inclusiveness, which is especially important this year. But perhaps the best evidence of Virginia’s competitive strength is the fact that it was our top state before the pandemic in 2019, and is back on top coming out of it.”