Who loves small business best? 2006: State

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FSB Who loves small business best? 2006

Which states are low on taxes and light on government regulations? Exclusive rankings for FSB.com from the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.*

State

Rank	State	Index score
1	Alabama	40.33
2	Alaska	46.77
3	Arizona	45.75
4	Arkansas	48.16
5	California	65.12
6	Colorado	42.68
7	Connecticut	54.25
8	Delaware	47.31
9	Florida	40.82
10	Georgia	49.90
11	Hawaii	62.61
12	Idaho	54.52
13	Illinois	48.49
14	Indiana	44.87
15	Iowa	57.76
16	Kansas	54.80
17	Kentucky	56.27
18	Louisiana	54.27
19	Maine	63.99
20	Maryland	51.85
21	Massachusetts	61.06
22	Michigan	42.74
23	Minnesota	63.59
24	Mississippi	41.09
25	Missouri	49.24
26	Montana	53.90
27	Nebraska	54.22
28	Nevada	29.92
29	New Hampshire	47.26
30	New Jersey	65.35
31	New Mexico	52.51
32	New York	62.65
33	North Carolina	57.48
34	North Dakota	49.85
35	Ohio	56.73
36	Oklahoma	49.46
37	Oregon	57.06
38	Pennsylvania	45.86
39	Rhode Island	64.97
40	South Carolina	44.56
41	South Dakota	26.36
42	Tennessee	44.97
43	Texas	42.71
44	Utah	50.10
45	Vermont	59.48
46	Virginia	45.46
47	Washington	40.42
48	Washington, D.C.**	75.42
49	West Virginia	56.66
50	Wisconsin	51.48
51	Wyoming	35.84

Footnotes:
* SBE Council, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit which advocates for reduced government taxes and regulations on small business, tends to lobby for the Republican agenda when it comes to taxes and regulations.
** Washington, D.C. was not included in a study ranking states by liability systems, so DC.'s index score is underestimated.

Low taxes

Rank	Name
1	South Dakota
2	Nevada
3	Wyoming
See the rest

Low energy costs

Rank	Name
1	Kentucky
2	West Virginia
3	Missouri
See the rest

How we ranked the states

Which states are low on taxes and light on government regulations? In these exclusive rankings for FSB.com, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, a nonprofit advocacy group in Washington, D.C. used their Small Business Survival Index to rate the 50 states and Washington, D.C. according to some of the major government-imposed or -related costs affecting investment, entrepreneurship, and business. SBE Council, which advocates for reduced government taxes and regulations on small business, supports a mostly Republican agenda. (more)