FORBES' ranking of states' business costs, 2007

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

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