Index score: 29.92

As in South Dakota, Nevada entrepreneurs pay no income, capital gains or estate or inheritance taxes. "There's a lot going for Nevada," says Kerrigan of the SBE Council, including good location, a strong retiree base, an aggressive outreach program for economic development, and "Las Vegas becoming the entertainment capital of the world." Given the "rabid" pace of growth, she says, a long-term challenge will be whether its infrastructure, water supply, and so on can keep up. In the short term, ballot measures being voted on next week could beef up property rights protections, or raise the minimum wage above the federal rate of $5.15 an hour.