New research has revealed the best states for business growth, with both North Carolina and South Carolina ranking among the top 10 states in the nation.
New data from the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics was analyzed to determine the business growth rate in each state based on the change in the number of establishments from last year to this year.
|
Rank |
State |
Business growth rate |
|
1 |
Georgia |
13.50% |
|
2 |
Virginia |
10.50% |
|
3 |
Arizona |
10.40% |
|
4 |
Montana & Vermont |
10.20% |
|
5 |
Michigan |
9.80% |
|
6 |
South Carolina |
9.60% |
|
7 |
North Carolina |
9.20% |
|
8 |
Colorado & Hawaii |
9.10% |
|
9 |
Idaho |
8.90% |
|
10 |
Utah |
8.40% |
Top of the list is Georgia, with a business growth rate of 13.50%. Last year, there were 397,515 business establishments compared to 350,189 this year. Corporate income tax is set at a reasonable rate of 5.75% in Georgia, with the state also offering job tax credit to reduce corporate tax liability for eligible businesses.
In second place is Virginia, which witnessed a business growth rate of 10.50% with over 32,000 new businesses added over the past year.
Arizona is in third place with a business growth rate of 10.40%, followed by Montana and Vermont both in fourth place at 10.20%, and in fifth place is Michigan, with a business growth rate of 9.80%.
South Carolina is in 6th place; the state witnessed the number of establishments grow from 155,945 last year to 170,968 this year, resulting in a business growth rate of 9.60%. South Carolina offers incentives for new businesses registered as a corporation, such as no local income tax, no state property tax, and no inventory tax.
Ranking in seventh place is North Carolina, with a business growth rate of 9.20% after seeing the number of establishments rise from 325,058 to 354,823 12 months later. The state has one of the country’s lowest corporate income tax rates at just 2.5%.
Colorado and Hawaii are in joint eighth place, following closely behind is Idaho in ninth place, and lastly, Utah in tenth place with a business growth rate of 8.40%.
On the opposite end of the scale, Washington has the worst business growth rate of -16.80%. The state had 284,440 establishments last year, which decreased by 47,644 this year; Washington was the only state to witness a decrease of establishments.
