Rhode Island ranks last for business in national study

The Rhode Island State House. Photo by Steve Klamkin WPRO News

After two years out of the bottom spot in a ranking of business friendly states, Rhode Island again ranks last in a study conducted by CNBC.

To rank CNBC’s 2019 America’s Top States for Business, they put all 50 states through “a rigorous test and graded them based on more than 60 measures of competitiveness in 10 broad categories.”

“Each category is weighted according to how frequently states use them as a selling point in economic development marketing materials. That way, our study ranks the states based on the attributes they use to sell themselves. CNBC’s criteria was developed with guidance from a diverse array of business and policy experts and official government sources, along with input from the states themselves. And our metrics are based on publicly available data from a variety of sources. As in years past, some states tied in several categories.”

The categories included Workforce, Economy, Infrastructure, Cost of Doing Business, Education and Quality of Life. Read more about the categories HERE.

Virginia was the top rated state for business, and rounding out the top five were Texas, North Carolina, Utah, and Washington. Neighboring Massachusetts ranked 14th overall, Connecticut ranked 35th, New Hampshire 25th, Vermont 40th, and Maine 44th. See the full rankings HERE.

 

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