PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island is the worst state in the nation to start a business for the second-straight year, according to a Monday WalletHub report.
The report considered 25 metrics to evaluate each of the 50 states in three categories: business environment, access to resources and business costs.
Rhode Island ranks No. 50 for business environment, No. 40 for access to resources and No. 40 for business costs and last overall, according to the report.
Among the 25 metrics, Rhode Island received its worst 2025 rankings for its access to financing at No. 46 and average workweek in hours at No. 48.
This is the third time in six years WalletHub ranked Rhode Island the worst state in the nation to start a business. The first time the 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.
In a
related study earlier this month by Simplify LLC, Rhode Island fared much better as an improving haven for entrepreneurs.
Simplify, an independent publication based in Wyoming that provides free guides for small-business owners, ranked Rhode Island No. 7 nationally after ranking it 40th a year ago.
Florida ranks No. 1 overall in WalletHub's 2025 report. That state is No. 1 for business environment, No. 14 for access to resources and No. 28 for business costs.
In New England, Maine ranks highest at No. 23. That state was No. 14 for business environment, No. 44 for access to resources and No. 25 for business costs.
Massachusetts is No. 33 overall, followed by Vermont at No. 42, New Hampshire at No. 45, and Connecticut at No. 49.
Massachusetts also has the highest share of the population with a college education – 2.1 times higher than in West Virginia, which had the lowest.
WalletHub is an opinion list based on biased conservative principles and not on actual facts on the ground. I mean, Florida is number 1? Could they have listed Florida so high because the state has no worker protection laws, no social safety net, and minimum wage culture based on leisure travel? Anyone can open up a nail salon or sell turkey legs to tourist on a beach. Seriously, there is a reason Florida ranks at the bottom of the list for start-ups and small business creation in real value added business like medical, financial, IT and other professional services.