Forbes: Texas second-best state for

business

Austin Business Journal - 10:20 AM CDT Thursday

Texas ranks No. 2 on Forbes.com's first-ever list of the best states for business. The Lone Star State came in just behind the commonwealth of Virginia.

To create the list, Forbes.com ranked all 50 states on 30 metrics in six main categories: business costs, economic climate, growth prospects, labor, quality of life and regulatory environment.

According to Forbes.com, Texas "experienced a boom and bust in many categories similar to what its economy has witnessed with oil, real state and banking over the years. Texas was among the best when it came to population growth, transportation, tort climate and cost of living."

The state also has the largest number of companies with $1 billion in sales at 110, according to the business news Web site.

Still, Texas ranked last in terms of high-school attainment, with only 78 percent of the adult population graduating from high school. The state also scored poorly on assessments of unemployment, crime and poverty.

Rounding out the top five were No. 3 ranked North Carolina, No. 4 Utah and No. 5 Colorado. Coming in at the bottom of the list are No. 48 ranked Mississippi, No. 49 West Virginia and Louisiana finishing last. Forbes.com notes the devastation Hurricane Katrina wreaked on two of those states. All three suffer from weak labor pools and growth prospects as well as a poor quality of life ranking, according to the Web site.