Building our readers’ knowledge and capabilities is the purpose of State of the States 2021, Site Selection’s annual compendium of data that matter to global corporate location decision-makers. This edition includes the sixth annual installment of Rankings That Matter, where the six-point scoreboard features the following:
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Rank in the Tax Foundation’s 2021 State Business Tax Climate Index (Oct. 2020) |
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Rank in 2019 Higher Education R&D Expenditure (Total in $000s in parentheses) |
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Rank in percent improvement in ACT National Career Readiness Certificates earned by working-age adults between Dec. 2019 and Dec. 2020 (total number and percent improvement shown below ranking bar) |
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Rank in Workers’ Compensation Premium Rate state rankings by the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services’ IT and Research Division, October 2018 |
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Rank by Lowest Industrial Electric Power Cost (¢/kWh, EIA) |
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Rank in Fiscal Health (based on data from Pew Center on the States’ Fiscal 50, Dec. 2020) |
Mix and match these data points according to your own organization’s site selection priorities, and let the facts guide you toward the best location choice.
This report was compiled, edited and designed by Mark Arend, Adam Bruns, Gary Daughters, Karen Medernach, Daniel Boyer, McKenzie Wright, Brian Espinoza and Richard Nenoff.
A note about the layout: States supported by a full page of advertising have full data pages including project charts and Pandemic Recovery and Response facts. Therefore, states do not always appear in alphabetical order.
Sources: Standard & Poor’s (state credit ratings as of December 2020); ESRI (2020 state populations, population growths, median household incomes, and median ages); The Pew Charitable Trusts Fiscal 50 resource, based on data from state comprehensive annual financial reports; National Science Foundation; ACT; U.S. Energy Information Administration; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; C2ER; National Bureau of Economic Research; U.S. Census Bureau; Conway Analytics’ Conway Projects Database; state chambers of commerce, economic development agencies and business/industry associations; press reports; governors’ and corporate press rooms; law firms; Ballotpedia.org; and legislative research services.
To view a state’s data page simply click on your desired state.
On the Cover:
We invited supporters of economic development across the nation to demonstrate their enthusiasm for the future of their home states in a mock-up of a video conference call. Among the respondents and good sports featured on our cover:
AZ: Sandra Watson, President & CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority
DE: Delaware Prosperity Partnership Board Co-chair, Delaware Governor and high school and college sports star John Carney
GA: Asante Bradford, Project Manager, Digital Entertainment & Emerging Media, Georgia Department of Economic Development
IN: Indiana Governor Eric J. Holcomb and some enthusiastic Indiana sports mascots
LA: “Cheerleader” Stephanie Eccles, media specialist, LED FastStart®, pictured in front of a sculpture called “Sing the River” on the Mississippi River waterfront in Baton Rouge
MN: Scott Larsen, Art Director, Site Selection Magazine,
born and raised in Minnesota
MO: Missouri State Highway Patrol: Trooper Brandon Harris
is seated in the car. Corporal Rich Stewart is standing.
NH: Wildolfo (Will) Arvelo, Director, Division of Economic Development, New Hampshire Department of Business
and Economic Affairs
TN: Sammie Arnold, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development’s Assistant Commissioner of Community and Rural Development and his daughter, Maggie. Sammie is also the Chief Of Staff of Governor
Bill Lee’s Economic Recovery Group.
TX: Texas Governor Greg Abbott and friends at a University
of Texas football game
UT: University of Utah President Ruth Watkins
VA: Virginia Governor Ralph Northam