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Business news channel CNBC unveiled the results of its ninth annual list of America's Top States for Business on Wednesday, and Minnesota took the No. 1 spot.
"Minnesota shows that there are multiple paths states can follow to be competitive," CNBC Special Correspondent Scott Cohn said. "The state took a gamble by raising taxes in 2013, and at least so far it has paid off in improved state finances, and the fact that businesses were willing to stay put in order to take advantage of the state's excellent workforce, top-notch education system, and superb quality of life."
Minnesota, which finished sixth last year, scored 1,584 out of 2,500 points this year with Education as its best category followed by Quality of Life. CNBC said Minnesota's economy is among the healthiest in the nation with unemployment well below the national average.
"The credit for our state's economic success belongs to the people of Minnesota," Gov. Mark Dayton said in response to the rankings. "We thank the businessmen and women, who chose Minnesota, and their productive employees, who made those investments successful. We are proud to earn this national recognition and determined to continue on our path toward future growth."
View complete rankings here.
America's Top 5 States for Business
1. Minnesota (Highest Rank - #2 in Education; Lowest Rank - #35 in Cost of Doing Business)
2. Texas (Highest Rank - #1 in Infrastructure; Lowest Rank - #33 in Quality of Life)
3. Utah (Highest Rank - #1 in Economy; Lowest Rank - #31 in Education)
4. Colorado (Highest Rank - #3 in Economy; Lowest Rank - #36 in Cost of Doing Business)
5. Georgia (Highest Rank - #2 in Infrastructure; Lowest Rank - #36 in Quality of Life)
Methodology of rankings
To determine the rankings for America's Top States for Business, each state was scored using publicly available data on more than 60 different measures of competitiveness. CNBC developed methodology with input from a broad and diverse array of business and policy experts, official government sources, the CNBC Global CFO Council and the states themselves.
States received points based on their rankings in each metric, which were then separated into ten broad categories. The categories are weighted based on how frequently each is used as a selling point in state economic development marketing materials. That way, the states were graded on the criteria they use to sell themselves.