TABLE 1: 2004 STATE BUSINESS TAX CLIMATE INDEX AND RANKING (U.S.AVERAGE = 5)
| 2004 | 2003 | Change from 2003 to 2004 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Score | Rank* | Score | Rank* | Score | Rank | ||
| All U.S. States | 5.00 | - | 5.00 | - | - | - | ||
| South Dakota | 7.37 | 1 | 7.29 | 1 | 0.08 | 0 | ||
| Florida | 6.92 | 2 | 7.00 | 3 | -0.08 | 1 | ||
| Alaska | 6.85 | 3 | 6.75 | 5 | 0.10 | 2 | ||
| Texas | 6.80 | 4 | 6.78 | 4 | 0.02 | 0 | ||
| New Hampshire | 6.63 | 5 | 6.64 | 6 | -0.01 | 1 | ||
| Nevada | 6.49 | 6 | 7.09 | 2 | -0.60 | -4 | ||
| Wyoming | 6.45 | 7 | 6.58 | 7 | -0.14 | 0 | ||
| Colorado | 6.35 | 8 | 6.29 | 10 | 0.06 | 2 | ||
| Washington | 6.25 | 9 | 6.42 | 8 | -0.17 | -1 | ||
| Oregon | 6.15 | 10 | 6.30 | 9 | -0.15 | -1 | ||
| Missouri | 5.84 | 11 | 5.70 | 13 | 0.14 | 2 | ||
| Indiana | 5.74 | 12 | 5.90 | 11 | -0.17 | -1 | ||
| Virginia | 5.74 | 12 | 5.70 | 13 | 0.03 | 1 | ||
| Oklahoma | 5.68 | 14 | 5.68 | 15 | 0.00 | 1 | ||
| Tennessee | 5.67 | 15 | 5.89 | 12 | -0.22 | -3 | ||
| Alabama | 5.66 | 16 | 5.67 | 16 | 0.00 | 0 | ||
| Montana | 5.63 | 17 | 5.65 | 17 | -0.01 | 0 | ||
| Delaware | 5.57 | 18 | 5.41 | 19 | 0.16 | 1 | ||
| Arizona | 5.49 | 19 | 5.50 | 18 | -0.01 | -1 | ||
| Georgia | 5.44 | 20 | 5.33 | 20 | 0.12 | 0 | ||
| Maryland | 5.42 | 21 | 5.31 | 21 | 0.11 | 0 | ||
| Pennsylvania | 5.31 | 22 | 4.99 | 27 | 0.32 | 5 | ||
| Illinois | 5.21 | 23 | 5.28 | 23 | -0.07 | 0 | ||
| South Carolina | 5.18 | 24 | 5.30 | 22 | -0.11 | -2 | ||
| Mississippi | 5.15 | 25 | 5.15 | 25 | -0.01 | 0 | ||
| Utah | 5.10 | 26 | 5.05 | 26 | 0.04 | 0 | ||
| Louisiana | 5.06 | 27 | 5.18 | 24 | -0.11 | -3 | ||
| Iowa | 5.03 | 28 | 4.94 | 30 | 0.09 | 2 | ||
| Ohio | 4.87 | 29 | 4.99 | 27 | -0.12 | -2 | ||
| North Carolina | 4.86 | 30 | 4.88 | 32 | -0.02 | 2 | ||
| Idaho | 4.85 | 31 | 4.87 | 33 | -0.02 | 2 | ||
| Kansas | 4.82 | 32 | 4.87 | 33 | -0.05 | 1 | ||
| Massachusetts | 4.80 | 33 | 4.99 | 27 | -0.19 | -6 | ||
| New Jersey | 4.78 | 34 | 4.87 | 33 | -0.08 | -1 | ||
| Nebraska | 4.77 | 35 | 4.94 | 30 | -0.17 | -5 | ||
| Michigan | 4.70 | 36 | 4.71 | 37 | -0.01 | 1 | ||
| Connecticut | 4.70 | 37 | 4.75 | 36 | -0.05 | -1 | ||
| California | 4.61 | 38 | 4.62 | 38 | -0.01 | 0 | ||
| North Dakota | 4.50 | 39 | 4.53 | 40 | -0.02 | 1 | ||
| New Mexico | 4.50 | 40 | 4.36 | 43 | 0.14 | 3 | ||
| Wisconsin | 4.46 | 41 | 4.43 | 41 | 0.03 | 0 | ||
| Maine | 4.44 | 42 | 4.39 | 42 | 0.06 | 0 | ||
| Arkansas | 4.44 | 43 | 4.58 | 39 | -0.13 | -4 | ||
| Kentucky | 4.34 | 44 | 4.26 | 45 | 0.08 | 1 | ||
| Vermont | 4.31 | 45 | 4.36 | 43 | -0.05 | -2 | ||
| Rhode Island | 4.25 | 46 | 4.19 | 47 | 0.06 | 1 | ||
| West Virginia | 4.24 | 47 | 4.25 | 46 | -0.01 | -1 | ||
| Minnesota | 4.06 | 48 | 4.05 | 48 | 0.01 | 0 | ||
| New York | 4.04 | 49 | 3.95 | 49 | 0.09 | 0 | ||
| Hawaii | 3.74 | 50 | 3.69 | 50 | 0.05 | 0 | ||
| District of Columbia | 3.70 | - | 3.71 | - | -0.01 | - | ||
| *Overall rank orderings based on a comparison of individual state scoresfrom combined subindexes, carried to three decimal places. | ||||||||
| Source: Tax Foundation, "2004 State Business Tax Climate Index" | ||||||||