KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) – A new study released by CNBC rates the Tennessee among the best states in America to do business in.
The CNBC study scores all fifty states on 88 metrics across 10 categories such as ‘cost of doing business,’ ‘infrastructure’ and ‘cost of living.’ Tennessee was rated the sixth-best state to do business in based on these metrics, trailing only Texas, Colorado, Virginia, Washington and North Carolina.
While the state improved in several metrics, the state fell one spot in the overall rankings from 2021 when it was ranked fifth-best in the nation.
In the ‘economy metric’ category which analyzes economic strength through gross domestic product growth and job growth over the past year, Tennessee was second only to North Carolina. The Volunteer State also ranked in the top ten in the categories of cost of doing business, infrastructure and cost of living.
Tennessee ranked ninth worst in the ‘life, health and inclusion’ category, which assesses livability factors like per capita crime rates, environmental quality, voting rights, protections against discrimination and health care quality.
Compared to CNBC’s 2021 assessment, Tennessee improved in the categories of ‘workforce’, ‘technology & innovation’, ‘education’ and ‘cost of living’ while falling in the ‘infrastructure’, ‘business friendliness’ and ‘access to capital’ categories.
Mississippi was rated the worst state to do business in, down five spots from their 2021 rank.