South Dakota is the friendliest state to entrepreneurs and California is the least, according to the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council’s “Small Business Policy Index 2013: Ranking the States on Policy Measures and Costs Impacting Small Business and Entrepreneurship.”
The 18th annual index, released by the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council), ranks the 50 states based on 47 policy measures, including taxation, regulation and government spending.
According to the index, Kansas (no. 23) was slightly friendlier to entrepreneurs than Missouri (no. 26).
SBE Council President and CEO Karen Kerrigan said in a release: “The top states on the ‘Small Business Policy Index 2013’ are streamlining government and lifting burdens like excessive taxation and regulation. They are passing responsible budgets, and living within their means. The worst ranked states keep treating small businesses and entrepreneurs as piggy banks to fund higher spending and bankrupt programs.
“Governors and state leaders who are serious about improving their entrepreneurial ecosystems are aggressively working to change policies that are harming entrepreneurship and business growth,” Kerrigan said. “The White House needs to closely examine what the most successful states are doing to help entrepreneurs. These pro-growth policies, if enacted at the federal level, would make a major difference for U.S. economic growth and competitiveness.”
Raymond J. Keating, the SBE Council’s chief economist and author of the 2013 index, said that it was built on “sound, clear-cut economics, as understood in Economics 101 and evidenced by the many studies cited in the index.”
“Quite simply, the states are compared and ranked according to how state and local government policies impact costs and incentives for entrepreneurship and investment,” Keating said. “In turn, such risk taking is critical to economic growth, income growth and job creation.”
The index’s top 10 friendliest states to entrepreneurs:
- South Dakota
- Nevada
- Texas
- Wyoming
- Florida
- Washington
- Alabama
- Indiana
- Ohio
- Utah
The index’s 10 least friendly states to entrepreneurs:
- Connecticut
- Oregon
- Iowa
- Maine
- Minnesota
- Hawaii
- New York
- Vermont
- New Jersey
- California
