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Pillar of the index

Starting up

How many businesses get founded here, and what the state takes in tax.

Every jurisdiction ranked on starting up

Starting up across the United StatesAlabama: 62 · rank 18Alaska: 88 · rank 3Arizona: 77 · rank 8Arkansas: 58 · rank 22California: 29 · rank 42Colorado: 89 · rank 2Connecticut: 21 · rank 44Delaware: 57 · rank 24District of Columbia: 42 · rank 29Florida: 95 · rank 1Georgia: 88 · rank 3Hawaii: 4 · rank 51Idaho: 56 · rank 25Illinois: 30 · rank 39Indiana: 52 · rank 27Iowa: 35 · rank 34Kansas: 42 · rank 29Kentucky: 55 · rank 26Louisiana: 65 · rank 14Maine: 20 · rank 45Maryland: 33 · rank 36Massachusetts: 15 · rank 48Michigan: 61 · rank 19Minnesota: 20 · rank 45Mississippi: 78 · rank 7Missouri: 87 · rank 5Montana: 70 · rank 12Nebraska: 39 · rank 31Nevada: 59 · rank 20New Hampshire: 65 · rank 14New Jersey: 45 · rank 28New Mexico: 34 · rank 35New York: 33 · rank 36North Carolina: 64 · rank 16North Dakota: 13 · rank 49Ohio: 59 · rank 20Oklahoma: 71 · rank 11Oregon: 31 · rank 38Pennsylvania: 30 · rank 39Rhode Island: 17 · rank 47South Carolina: 74 · rank 9South Dakota: 58 · rank 22Tennessee: 64 · rank 16Texas: 84 · rank 6Utah: 70 · rank 12Vermont: 10 · rank 50Virginia: 37 · rank 32Washington: 25 · rank 43West Virginia: 30 · rank 39Wisconsin: 37 · rank 32Wyoming: 72 · rank 10
A map sizes states by land area, not by value — Wyoming shouts and Rhode Island vanishes. The ranked list beside it is the reading.
  1. 1FL Florida95
  2. 2CO Colorado89
  3. 3GA Georgia88
  4. 3AK Alaska88
  5. 5MO Missouri87
  6. 6TX Texas84
  7. 7MS Mississippi78
  8. 8AZ Arizona77
  9. 9SC South Carolina74
  10. 10WY Wyoming72
  11. 11OK Oklahoma71
  12. 12UT Utah70
  13. 12MT Montana70
  14. 14NH New Hampshire65
  15. 14LA Louisiana65
  16. 16NC North Carolina64
  17. 16TN Tennessee64
  18. 18AL Alabama62
  19. 19MI Michigan61
  20. 20OH Ohio59
  21. 20NV Nevada59
  22. 22SD South Dakota58
  23. 22AR Arkansas58
  24. 24DE Delaware57
  25. 25ID Idaho56
  26. 26KY Kentucky55
  27. 27IN Indiana52
  28. 28NJ New Jersey45
  29. 29DC Washington, D.C.42
  30. 29KS Kansas42
  31. 31NE Nebraska39
  32. 32VA Virginia37
  33. 32WI Wisconsin37
  34. 34IA Iowa35
  35. 35NM New Mexico34
  36. 36MD Maryland33
  37. 36NY New York33
  38. 38OR Oregon31
  39. 39IL Illinois30
  40. 39PA Pennsylvania30
  41. 39WV West Virginia30
  42. 42CA California29
  43. 43WA Washington25
  44. 44CT Connecticut21
  45. 45MN Minnesota20
  46. 45ME Maine20
  47. 47RI Rhode Island17
  48. 48MA Massachusetts15
  49. 49ND North Dakota13
  50. 50VT Vermont10
  51. 51HI Hawaii4

What this pillar is built from, and the range behind the score

A percentile says how many jurisdictions a state beats and says nothing about by how much. The starting up score is the average of 2 indicators, and below is each one's top and bottom in its own units — the part the rank above deliberately discards. Highest and lowest mean best and worst for economic development, which for some of these series is the lower figure; where an end is shared, the table says how many jurisdictions share it.

IndicatorHighestLowestSource
Business applications per 1,000 residents12.8Wyoming0.9West VirginiaU.S. Census Bureau
State tax collected per resident$2,279Alaska$16,036Washington, D.C.U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of State Government Tax Collections

Scores are percentile ranks within the 51 jurisdictions, so they say how many a state beats rather than by how much. Adjacent positions can represent trivial real differences; the state profile prints the underlying figure for every indicator.

The whole index

Starting up — every state ranked — Applied America