How Business-Friendly Is Your State? Survey Reveals Best & Worst States For Companies

How well does your state fare in business friendliness compared to the rest of the country? Thumbtack, a San Francisco-based tech company that specializes in connecting customers with local professionals, released an interactive map describing how states rate based on several factors defining overall business hospitality.

The factors include ease of starting a business, ease of hiring, regulations, health and safety, employment, labor and hiring, tax code, licensing, environmental factors, zoning, training and government websites.

Thumbtack gathered the data by surveying over 13,000 small business owners who work as electricians, music teachers, wedding planners, wellness professionals and more. According to Thumbtack, their survey is the largest continuous study of small business owners’ perceptions of government policy in the United States.

If you click on a state, you can see the locations of the businesses surveyed along with a comment on the state or locality’s business friendliness from a local business owner.

Overall, the most business-friendly states are Maine, Delaware, Indiana, Louisiana, Texas, Wyoming, Utah and Idaho, all with A+ scores for overall friendliness. The least business-friendly states, according to Thumbtack, are Alaska, New Mexico and Illinois, all with Fs.

Delaware is the most business-friendly state in the country, scoring A+ on eight of 12 categories. Hawaii and Illinois, which scored F on five and six of 12 categories, respectively, could be considered the least business friendly states.

Here are the different categories along with descriptions and which states ranked the highest, and lowest, in each category.

Ease of Starting a Business: How difficult or easy do you think it is to start a business in your state?

States that scored A+

• New Hampshire
• Kansas
• Delaware

States that scored F

• West Virginia
• Alaska

Ease of Hiring: How difficult or easy is it to hire a new employee at your business?

States that scored A+

• Louisiana
• Oklahoma
• Nebraska
• Wyoming

States that scored F

• West Virginia
• North Dakota
• Washington

Regulations: How friendly or unfriendly is your state or local government with regard to business regulations generally?

States that scored A+

• Delaware
• North Dakota
• Wyoming

States that scored F

• Rhode Island
• New York
• Illinois
• Hawaii

Health and Safety: How unfriendly or friendly is your state or local government with regard to health and safety regulations?

States that scored A+

• Delaware
• Virginia
• South Carolina
• Mississippi
• Arkansas
• North Dakota
• South Dakota
• Nebraska
• Kansas
• Wyoming
• Idaho
• Utah

States that scored F

• None

Employment, Labor and Hiring: How unfriendly is your state or local government with regard to employment, labor and hiring regulations?

States that scored A+

• Delaware
• Mississippi
• Arkansas
• Oklahoma
• North Dakota
• South Dakota
• Wyoming

States that scored F

• Rhode Island
• Hawaii

Tax Code: How unfriendly is your state or local government with regard to tax code and tax-related regulations?

States that scored A+

• New Hampshire
• Delaware
• Georgia
• Florida
• Mississippi
• Oklahoma
• North Dakota

States that scored F

• Vermont
• New York
• Illinois
• Hawaii

Licensing: How unfriendly is your state or local government with regard to licensing forms, requirements and fees?

States that scored A+

• New Hampshire
• Delaware
• North Dakota

States that scored F

• New York
• Illinois
• Hawaii

Environmental: How unfriendly is your state or local government with regard to environmental regulations?

States that scored A+

• Delaware
• Kentucky
• North Dakota
• South Dakota
• Montana
• Idaho
• Wyoming

States that scored F

• Illinois

Zoning: How unfriendly is your state or local government with regard to employment, labor and hiring regulations?

States that scored A+

• Arkansas
• North Dakota
• Wyoming

States that scored F

• Vermont

Training and Network Programs: Does your state or local government offer helpful training or networking programs for small business owners?

States that scored A+

• Maine
• New Hampshire
• Iowa

States that scored F

• Kentucky
• South Dakota
• Wyoming
• Hawaii

Government Websites: Have you used a government website to comply with regulations on your business or to learn information about operating a business in your community?

States that scored A+

• Delaware
• Louisiana
• Iowa
• North Dakota
• South Dakota
• Idaho

States that scored F

• New York
• Illinois

Thumbtack has been running this survey since 2012. They track changes in how well each state or city does in each category not only compared to other states and cities, but compared to themselves in years past.

Article image public domain via Pixabay