Where Does Connecticut Rank Among Nation's 'Top States For Business 2017?'

It could have been worse considering the negative publicity from some of the recent high-profile corporate defections from the state, but Connecticut is the nation's 33rd best state for business in 2017, according to a new study by the financial network CNBC.

Connecticut ranked third overall for Education, one of the 10 major categories CNBC considered when compiling the ranking.

But it came in 47th for Infrastructure, in part because of the state's poor access to various forms of transportation.

Overall, Connecticut jumped 10 spots in the annual ranking, from 43rd in 2016 to 33rd this year.

CNBC broke down the best states for business by studying those 10 major categories, including Workforce, Economy and cost of living, and also using 66 metrics. Click here to read the full methodology.

Washington came in first as the nation's top state for business this year, followed by Georgia, Minnesota, Texas and North Carolina.

"Washington leads the league in America’s Top States for Business ranking in 2017," wrote CNBC. "The economy grew 3.7% in 2016, nearly two and a half times the national rate. The state boasts the nation’s largest concentration of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) workers, and follows California in the most patents filed last year. The home of Amazon and Costco, Boeing and Expedia, as well as rising stars like space company Blue Origin, Washington has the old and new economies covered."

On the opposite end of the spectrum, right now you probably want to avoid launching a company in West Virginia, the nation's worst state for business, with Hawaii, Mississippi, Alaska and Maine rounding out the bottom five.

Of Connecticut's neighboring states, Massachusetts was 10th, New York 38th and Rhode Island 45th. New Jersey, part of the Tri-State region, was 32nd.

To view the complete CNBC report "America's Top States for Business 2017," click here.

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