WASHINGTON — Virginia makes the top 10 in a list ranking the best states for starting a business, but Maryland is near the bottom of the list, according to a study out Monday.
Personal finance site GoBankingRates.com considered a number of factors in ranking states, including the rate of new businesses opening in a given month, the density of startup businesses and the survival rate for startups.
Also, it weighed education levels, availability of employees and the tax climate in each state.
Virginia ranks No. 9 on the list, getting high marks for availability of employees with high education levels, and a better-than-average ranking when it comes to opportunities for new entrepreneurs. Also, Virginia has the highest ratio of business creations to business deaths, with nearly double the amount of establishments born to those that closed, according to GoBankingRates.com.
In Maryland, the study notes a small percentage of workers available for new businesses, the high cost of living and more business deaths than business births, scoring the third worst for business survival. Overall, Maryland ranked No. 45 on the 50-state list.
Wyoming ranks as the best state for stating a business. Hawaii ranks the worst.
D.C. was not included in the study.
You can see where all 50 states rank on GoBankingRates’ website.
