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Two reports released earlier this month have placed Delaware in the bottom tier as a place to do business.
The reports from the WalletHub. financial advice website and CNBC seemed to indicate that the high cost of doing business was a major factor in their ranking.
WalletHub’s ranking looked at the best and worst places to start a business while CNBC bill its report as “Top States for Business.” Delaware ranked 37thin the WalletHub report, with the CNBC listing coming in at 38th.
“The First State is among the worst when it comes to business costs. But it does boast a first-class workforce,” a headline accompanying the CNBC ranking stated.
In the CNBC report, Delaware earned D rankings in quality of life, access to capital and the cost of doing business. The state got a B+ for the quality of is workforce.
The WalletHub report ranked the state a relatively high 13th when it came to access to resources for a new business, but a 22ndplace finish in business environment and a 47th ranking in cost of doing business dragged down results.
Factors influencing rankings on business costs in the WalletHub report included office cots, health insurance costs, cost of living and taxes.
Delaware’s high income tax rates have long dragged down the state’s rankings and more recently health care costs have become part of the mix. The state did vote to lower corporate taxes to levels in neighboring states.
Texas and Washington, both of which have no income tax, ranked one and two in the CNBC report. Texas and Utah ranked one and two in the WalletHub report. Utah has a 5 percent flat rate on income taxes.
Texas is aided by rapid population growth, a strong higheer education system and the state targeting revenues from its vast oil resources to attract non-energy employers like Toyota.
Delaware did finish ahead of neighboring states in the WalletHub report, but was behind its peers in the CNBC listing.
