- Connecticut ranks 24th in CNBC’s Top States for Business, moving up from 35th in 2019
- State sees significant improvement in scores for infrastructure and business friendliness
- Connecticut continues to rank poorly in costs of living and doing business
Summary by Dirk Langeveld
Connecticut has significantly improved its standing on CNBC’s Top States for Business rankings for 2021, rising from 35th place in the 2019 list to 24th.
CNBC scored all 50 states on 85 metrics in 10 broad categories of competitive factors, such as access to capital, the cost of doing business, business friendliness, and education. The categories were weighted based on how frequently the states cited them in their economic development marketing.
- Connecticut’s ranked highest in the categories of business friendliness (8th), technology and innovation (8th), education (11th), and workforce (15th)
- The state’s worst rankings were related to its costs, coming in 45th in the category of cost of doing business and 43rd in the category of cost of living
- Connecticut improved 25 places in the category of infrastructure, from 43rd in 2019 to 18th in 2021; it also moved up 13 places in business friendliness and 11 places in economy (from 43rd to 32nd)
- Connecticut outscored most other New England states, but Massachusetts ranked higher at 14th
- Virginia took the top spot in the rankings, followed by North Carolina and Utah, while Alaska and Hawaii ranked the lowest
