PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island ranked No. 48 on the 2018 Best & Worst Places to Start a Business Wallethub study released Monday.
The study split 25 metrics into three categories: “Business Environment,” “Access to Resources,” and “Business Costs.”
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The Ocean State ranked No. 49 in the country for business environment, which included metrics such as average length of work week, share of engaged workers, the average growth of business revenue and other metrics related to entrepreneurship and business.
Rhode Island’s worst ranking for business environment was for average workweek and industry-cluster strength at No. 48 in the nation. The Rhode Island average workweek was 37.3 hours per week, tied for second-shortest in the country, while the industry-cluster strength was reported to be 10.2 percent.
The best ranking in business environment for Rhode Island was average growth in business revenue at No. 6 in the nation at 29.8 percent.
For access to resources, Rhode Island ranked significantly better at No. 11 in the nation. The state ranked No. 4 for higher-education assets, No. 10 for human-capital availability and No. 13 for its share of college-educated population at 32.5 percent. But the state’s working-age population decline was the fifth-highest in the country.
On the issue of business costs, the Ocean State ranked No. 35 in the nation, with its average annual single insurance premium per enrolled employee coming in at No. 49 in the United States at $6,665. The state ranked No. 13 for highest total spending on incentives as a share of gross domestic product at 0.7 percent.
In 2017, Rhode Island ranked one spot higher at No. 47 in the country.
In the report, Massachusetts ranked No. 19 overall in the study, ranking No. 16 for business environment and No. 5 for access to resources but No. 44 for business costs. Massachusetts ranked the highest of any state in New England. New Hampshire ranked last among New England states at No. 49. Hawaii ranked last while Texas ranked No. 1 this year for the nation as a whole.
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor.
