As a place to start a business, Maine’s “mojo” is going strong, as shown in a new national ranking released Tuesday by WalletHub, the personal finance website.
The barometer of “2023’s Best & Worst States to Start a Business” puts Maine at No. 13 overall.
Sandwiched between Montana (No. 12) and Kentucky (No. 14), the Pine Tree State was found to be the 10th best for its business environment. However, Maine received lower rankings for business costs and access to resources, the other two categories that factored into the overall score and place on the list.
Researchers compared the 50 states across 27 key indicators of startup success, including office-space affordability and the percentage of residents who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Utah, Florida and Texas were No. 1, 2, and 3 on the list, in that order, while Alaska brought up the rear at No. 50.
Maine received a better showing than all of its New England peers and is one of only two northeastern states in the top 20.
Massachusetts was No. 19 on the overall list, while Vermont was No. 33, New Hampshire was No. 39, Rhode Island was No. 46 and Connecticut was No. 39.
Other findings
Researchers also found that Iowa has the cheapest average annual rent for office space, at $12.08 per square foot. That’s 2.2 times cheaper than in New York, the priciest state for office space at $26.66 per square foot.
In addition, Massachusetts has the highest share of college-educated residents (44.5%), which is 2.1 times higher than West Virginia, the state with the lowest percentage at 21.3%.
Wyoming was found to have the most startups per 100,000 residents (214.67), which is three times more than in West Virginia, the state with the fewest at 72.20.
Find the full WalletHub report of “2023’s Best & Worst States to Start a Business” here.
