FORBES' ranking of states' business costs, 2009

Business Costs Rank	State	Overall rank	Labor Rank	Regulatory Environment Rank	Economic Climate Rank	Growth Prospects Rank	Quality of Life Rank
1	South Dakota	16	33	41	21	21	23
2	Wyoming	22	29	48	15	26	32
3	North Carolina	5	15	4	16	33	34
4	West Virginia	46	48	49	28	43	37
5	Delaware	21	12	26	40	39	36
6	North Dakota	7	37	26	8	4	21
7	Indiana	30	43	14	47	49	16
8	Arkansas	26	44	34	17	14	41
9	Iowa	14	39	16	22	46	8
10	Tennessee	23	39	3	38	34	42
11	Nebraska	9	24	23	23	23	10
12	Idaho	11	17	35	10	36	18
13	Oklahoma	20	41	9	4	47	38
14	Utah	3	4	11	11	22	17
15	Missouri	29	38	21	42	25	29
16	Kentucky	43	45	24	45	44	31
17	Oregon	10	6	41	13	17	25
18	Mississippi	40	49	20	46	19	46
19	South Carolina	25	31	6	36	30	43
20	Virginia	1	3	2	18	12	1
20	Louisiana	44	50	36	34	8	50
22	Alabama	28	42	19	25	13	45
23	Montana	13	8	38	6	16	35
24	Nevada	31	26	28	2	40	49
25	Kansas	15	21	12	30	26	27
26	New Mexico	27	32	31	11	6	48
27	Washington	2	2	5	3	1	24
28	Georgia	6	7	1	23	15	33
29	Texas	8	23	10	1	3	39
30	Ohio	37	47	8	43	48	12
31	Arizona	36	14	45	7	38	47
32	Minnesota	17	10	30	35	20	6
33	Colorado	4	1	17	5	2	15
34	Illinois	24	27	13	32	28	20
35	Wisconsin	48	36	37	41	45	11
36	Florida	18	11	25	14	9	40
37	Alaska	42	28	40	29	11	44
38	Pennsylvania	33	34	15	37	32	7
39	Michigan	49	46	6	50	50	30
40	Rhode Island	50	35	50	48	18	21
41	New Hampshire	19	5	46	26	5	4
42	Maryland	12	8	29	18	7	14
43	Vermont	47	13	44	49	42	9
44	Maine	41	25	32	39	28	19
45	Connecticut	35	18	33	31	37	3
46	New York	32	30	17	18	35	13
47	Hawaii	39	19	43	9	31	28
48	Massachusetts	34	16	22	33	40	2
49	New Jersey	45	20	47	44	24	5
50	California	38	22	39	27	10	26
Source:	FORBES

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