California

How Business Friendly is California? So-So, a New CBNC Ranking Shows

California did well in the areas of technology and innovation, access to capital, and education.

CNBC released its list of the top American states for business, and sadly California is not in the top 10. 

California received an F grade in terms of cost of living, cost of doing business, and “business friendliness,” which looks at how hospitable states are to burgeoning businesses, and how bureaucratic the policies can be. 

When it comes to life, health and inclusion – which examines crime rates, environmental quality, inclusiveness in state laws, “including protections against discrimination of all kinds” – some Californians may be surprised to learn their state received a C-. The category also recently started including access to child care, which the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found is a “leading obstacle” to employees reentering the workforce

Where California did well is in the areas of technology and innovation, access to capital, and education.

Overall, with all factors, California ranked 29th on the list. 

In terms of business, the top 10 states are:

  1. North Carolina
  2. Washington
  3. Virginia
  4. Colorado
  5. Texas
  6. Tennessee
  7. Nebraska
  8. Utah
  9. Minnesota
  10. Georgia

CNBC also ranked the states with the worst quality of life.

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