Prairie State Wire

Despite a 2.5% shrinkage in the gross domestic product in the first quarter of 2022 and a poor showing for business friendliness, Illinois ranked 19th in a new CNBC study of the top states for business.

The Prairie State received high rankings in categories such as infrastructure (third) and education (eighth), the analysis said. But it was at the bottom of the pack in terms of overall economic performance (44th) and business friendliness (40th), according to CNBC. 

The study scored the 50 states over 88 metrics within 10 broad categories, such as workplace, cost of living and access to capital. The analysis then weighted each category based on how often states used the attribute in economic development and marketing publications. 

The study is not opinion-based and used economic data from a number of sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

---

How States Measure Up on Economic Performance

Overall Rank	State	Workforce	Infrastructure	Cost of Doing Business	Economy	Life, Health & Inclusion	Technology & Innovation	Business Friendliness	Education	Access to Capital	Cost of Living
1	North Carolina	12	17	26	1	28	5	22	14	2	22
2	Washington	4	29	33	3	6	2	31	17	20	38
3	Virginia	11	9	25	20	13	17	6	2	6	30
4	Colorado	1	16	36	11	12	9	16	11	22	34
5	Texas	2	14	12	8	49	4	34	21	3	14
6	Tennessee	15	8	8	2	42	28	23	11	22	5
7	Nebraska	32	22	16	13	7	24	12	24	32	19
8	Utah	8	32	17	6	29	26	10	41	12	25
9	Minnesota	21	4	41	16	5	6	32	15	13	26
10	Georgia	3	11	38	7	39	12	32	10	13	4
11	Florida	6	13	30	4	39	16	39	19	22	27
12	Iowa	20	37	19	17	10	18	28	24	29	7
13	North Dakota	31	21	21	37	4	35	1	26	34	24
14	Indiana	48	1	2	10	43	23	18	35	13	9
15	Ohio	41	2	4	27	29	11	43	22	3	12
16	Michigan	26	19	9	21	29	15	20	27	11	12
17	Pennsylvania	28	12	22	45	22	7	26	5	9	32
18	Oregon	9	33	34	15	8	13	46	32	26	46
19	Illinois	26	3	31	44	23	8	40	6	8	20
20	Idaho	40	42	15	5	20	34	3	48	34	31
21	Kansas	35	6	6	43	29	38	17	20	19	2
22	South Dakota	43	36	11	12	27	36	8	39	10	29
23	Wisconsin	37	15	13	30	35	19	38	15	32	23
24	Massachusetts	24	31	49	26	13	10	21	1	6	47
25	Missouri	49	10	1	17	46	19	36	27	29	6
26	Kentucky	17	18	6	34	36	22	42	39	38	17
27	Maryland	10	22	44	31	18	14	29	18	13	44
28	Delaware	5	20	37	22	24	32	26	42	13	36
29	California	16	25	48	17	26	1	48	11	1	48
30	Montana	33	45	27	9	24	46	5	33	38	28
31	Vermont	50	22	39	33	1	37	14	8	45	41
32	Wyoming	18	35	23	40	20	40	2	29	45	20
33	Alabama	13	38	24	27	38	21	25	34	34	3
34	Arizona	7	6	35	22	50	29	4	42	41	33
35	New Hampshire	22	47	32	29	15	39	8	6	48	37
36	New York	46	28	42	36	19	2	44	4	5	49
36	South Carolina	29	27	28	13	47	31	23	29	41	18
38	Oklahoma	35	26	2	34	48	30	14	47	22	14
39	Connecticut	14	39	45	47	17	25	11	8	26	43
39	Nevada	29	5	20	25	41	47	7	50	26	35
41	Arkansas	38	30	13	24	37	40	29	37	20	10
42	New Jersey	23	34	43	50	8	27	47	3	13	40
43	Maine	43	49	40	32	2	44	19	23	47	39
44	West Virginia	43	42	10	39	34	49	49	44	38	8
45	Rhode Island	39	44	47	41	16	33	36	29	29	42
46	Hawaii	19	39	50	48	3	40	35	38	49	50
46	New Mexico	25	39	29	42	44	43	44	45	41	11
48	Louisiana	42	48	5	45	45	45	41	35	37	16
49	Alaska	34	50	46	38	11	50	12	49	49	45
50	Mississippi	47	46	17	49	33	48	50	46	41	1

Source: CNBCs Top States for Business in 2022