Register

Pillar of the index

Openness

Whether the state publishes in a form a machine can read: an open-data portal that answers; incentive, permit and finance records as data; and newsroom feeds.

Every jurisdiction ranked on openness

Openness across the United StatesAlabama: 27 · rank 29Alaska: 0 · rank 39Arizona: 53 · rank 25Arkansas: 0 · rank 39California: 63 · rank 15Colorado: 61 · rank 18Connecticut: 64 · rank 13Delaware: 59 · rank 22District of Columbia: 64 · rank 13Florida: 71 · rank 7Georgia: 0 · rank 39Hawaii: 75 · rank 6Idaho: 0 · rank 39Illinois: 57 · rank 23Indiana: 33 · rank 28Iowa: 60 · rank 19Kansas: 18 · rank 34Kentucky: 56 · rank 24Louisiana: 0 · rank 39Maine: 0 · rank 39Maryland: 65 · rank 12Massachusetts: 62 · rank 17Michigan: 60 · rank 19Minnesota: 0 · rank 39Mississippi: 27 · rank 29Missouri: 60 · rank 19Montana: 0 · rank 39Nebraska: 27 · rank 29Nevada: 0 · rank 39New Hampshire: 0 · rank 39New Jersey: 76 · rank 5New Mexico: 0 · rank 39New York: 63 · rank 15North Carolina: 67 · rank 10North Dakota: 27 · rank 29Ohio: 0 · rank 39Oklahoma: 51 · rank 26Oregon: 67 · rank 10Pennsylvania: 71 · rank 7Rhode Island: 0 · rank 39South Carolina: 18 · rank 34South Dakota: 18 · rank 34Tennessee: 18 · rank 34Texas: 71 · rank 7Utah: 79 · rank 4Vermont: 88 · rank 1Virginia: 84 · rank 3Washington: 86 · rank 2West Virginia: 27 · rank 29Wisconsin: 51 · rank 26Wyoming: 18 · rank 34
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. 1VT Vermont88
  2. 2WA Washington86
  3. 3VA Virginia84
  4. 4UT Utah79
  5. 5NJ New Jersey76
  6. 6HI Hawaii75
  7. 7FL Florida71
  8. 7TX Texas71
  9. 7PA Pennsylvania71
  10. 10NC North Carolina67
  11. 10OR Oregon67
  12. 12MD Maryland65
  13. 13CT Connecticut64
  14. 13DC Washington, D.C.64
  15. 15NY New York63
  16. 15CA California63
  17. 17MA Massachusetts62
  18. 18CO Colorado61
  19. 19MO Missouri60
  20. 19IA Iowa60
  21. 19MI Michigan60
  22. 22DE Delaware59
  23. 23IL Illinois57
  24. 24KY Kentucky56
  25. 25AZ Arizona53
  26. 26WI Wisconsin51
  27. 26OK Oklahoma51
  28. 28IN Indiana33
  29. 29NE Nebraska27
  30. 29ND North Dakota27
  31. 29MS Mississippi27
  32. 29AL Alabama27
  33. 29WV West Virginia27
  34. 34SD South Dakota18
  35. 34TN Tennessee18
  36. 34WY Wyoming18
  37. 34SC South Carolina18
  38. 34KS Kansas18
  39. 39NH New Hampshire0
  40. 39MN Minnesota0
  41. 39GA Georgia0
  42. 39MT Montana0
  43. 39OH Ohio0
  44. 39ID Idaho0
  45. 39ME Maine0
  46. 39AK Alaska0
  47. 39NV Nevada0
  48. 39RI Rhode Island0
  49. 39LA Louisiana0
  50. 39AR Arkansas0
  51. 39NM New Mexico0

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 openness score is the average of 3 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
Open-data portal answers an APIYes · azgeo-open-data-agic.hub.arcgis.comArizona and 27 others, tiedPublished address answers nothingWyoming and 22 others, tiedCEFA probe, 2026-09
Incentive, permit & finance datasets22Oregon0Wyoming and 28 others, tiedCEFA discovery, 2026-09
Government or agency newsroom feeds4North Carolina1Washington, D.C. and 26 others, tiedCEFA probe, 2026-09

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

Openness — every state ranked — Applied America