By Eric Woodruff, CPA
Manager, Audit & Assurance Services
Indiana has moved up to two spots in CNBC’s rankings of “America’s Top States for Business,” according to the new list for 2017. The Hoosier State now comes in at #14, compared to the 16th slot last year.
The annual list looks at a variety of factors, economic and otherwise, to determine which states are the friendliest to starting and growing businesses — and which are not. For 2017, Washington ranked #1 and West Virginia came in dead last.
“Low costs and a solid infrastructure meet at the Crossroads of the World, but quality of life tends to lose its way,” CNBC said about Indiana.
As in previous years, Indiana scored very well on Cost of Living and Cost of Doing Business (both #2 in the nation). The quality of the state’s Infrastructure also buoyed their standing with the #3 ranking. The state also tied at 8th for Business Friendliness, tied for 10th in overall Economy and 24th in Access to Capital.
The state got dinged by coming in 45th on Quality of Life, 35th on Workforce and 29th on Education.
The state profile by CNBC noted that Indiana has a very strong bond rating and outlook (Aaa by Moody’s and AAA by S&P), low individual and corporate income tax rates (topping out at 6.25% and 3.23%, respectively) and a very low unemployment rate of 3.2% as of this May. Economic growth for the fourth quarter of 2016, at a feeble 0.8%, was down compared to the rest of that year.
After Washington, Georgia, Minnesota, Texas, North Caroline, Colorado, Virginia, Utah, Tennessee and Massachusetts rounded out the CNBC’s top 10.
Although CNBC’s list is the most watched, other sources also produce their own lists of state business and economic rankings. Here’s how Indiana stacks up in a few of those:
5th – Best & Worst States for Business, ChiefExecutive.net
8th – Top States for Doing Business, Area Development
8th — 2017 State Business Tax Climate Index, The Tax Foundation
13th – Best States for Business, Forbes
We are proud of our state for business environment. We also believe these ranking will assist our state economy as we grow and develop our existing Hoosier businesses, as well as attract new businesses and talent to share in our success.
If you need any assistance with helping your business move up, please call Eric Woodruff at (317) 613-7850 or email [email protected].