PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island is once again the worst state in the nation to start a business, according to a recent WalletHub report.
The report, released Jan. 16, considered 25 metrics to evaluate each of the 50 states in three categories: business environment, access to resources and business costs.
Rhode Island ranked No. 50 for business environment, No. 21 for access to resources, No. 40 for business costs and last overall, according to the report.
Among the 25 metrics, Rhode Island received its worst rankings for its access to financing at No. 46 and average work week in hours at No. 48.
This was first time in five years WalletHub ranked Rhode Island the worst state in the nation to start a business. The last time Ocean State ranked last was 2019. Rhode Island ranked No. 46 overall in both 2023 and 2022. In 2021 The Ocean State was No. 48.
Utah ranked No. 1 overall. That state was No. 8 for business environment, No. 1 for access to resources and No. 29 for business costs.
In New England, Maine ranked highest at No. 27. That state was No. 21 for business environment, No. 46 for access to resources and No. 25 for business costs.
Massachusetts was No. 36 overall, followed by Vermont at No. 39, New Hampshire at No. 45, and Connecticut at No. 49.
Massachusetts also had the highest share of the population with a college education – 2.1 times higher than in West Virginia, which had the lowest.
(Update: Adds last time Rhode Island ranked last was 2019 in 5th paragraph)