New York placed No. 40 in CNBC”™s ‘Top States for Business’ ranking released last month. Local businesses looking for any sort of silver lining can point to New York”™s neighbors faring even worse than the Empire State ”“ with Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania ranking 46, 43 and 44, respectively.
CNBC has released the ranking annually since 2007, scoring each state in 56 categories and then breaking those figures down into 10 broad metrics, including infrastructure and economy. New York ranked last in cost of doing business and cost of living.
It did rank positively in several metrics ”“ No. 1 in education and No. 3 in the technology and innovation category.
Thirty-six states are in the midst of gubernatorial elections this year and the Republican Governors Association noted all five states that CNBC named top for business were led by GOP governors. Georgia, Texas, Utah, Nebraska and North Carolina ranked one through five, respectively, and each has a Republican sitting in its top elected post.
CNBC, which said its ranking was not intended as a political measure, noted in response on Tuesday that there were four Democrat-led states in the top 10 ”“ Minnesota, Washington, Colorado and Virginia.
The worst states for business, according to the listing, were Maine (45), Connecticut (46), Alaska (47), West Virginia (48), Hawaii (49) and Rhode Island (50).
In a listing on CNBC.com of America”™s most expensive states, New York was head of the class, followed by Hawaii at No. 2 and Connecticut at No. 3. New Jersey broke the unfortunate top 10, with a No. 7 ranking.
