These are the best (and worst) states for business owners in 2024

Texas ranks as the top state in the country for entrepreneurs looking to launch a new business in 2024, according to a new survey published this week. 

Findings from Simplify, an online publication that provides free guides for small business owners, found that the Lone Star State is the best in the U.S. to start a business, thanks to a strong influx of educated workers and no corporate income tax.

Texas is one of the few states that does not collect any type of income tax, although it does levy a gross receipts tax.

Florida ranked as the second-best state for business owners in 2024, according to the study, which cited its strong job creation and educated worker mobility. For 2023, total nonfarm employment in Florida grew by 2.5%, or about 240,600 jobs, Labor Department data shows. That makes it the eighth-best state in the nation for job growth.

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Florida imposes a 5.5% tax on corporate income, but it does not tax individual income. 

Rounding out the top three states for business owners is Wyoming, which has no corporate taxes and saw the country’s strongest business growth in the year ending November 2023, the study found. 

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“Even so, every state has its drawbacks, and Wyoming has a high degree of inflation relative to 2021 and low consumer spending growth,” the study said.

On the other end of the spectrum, Louisiana ranked as the worst state to start a business in 2024 due to its lack of business growth, high regional inflation, lower consumer spending growth and limited mobility for educated workers. About 31,000 educated workers moved into the state in 2022 and another 47,600 moved out, meaning the state lost 16,000 educated workers. 

Washington, D.C., trailed Louisiana with “lackluster scores” across the board, the study said. The capital city has an especially high maximum corporate tax rate of 8.25% and low consumer spending growth. 

California came in as the third-worst state to start a business. Although the Golden State has a high job creation rate and has seen less inflation since 2021 than many other parts of the country, it is experiencing an exodus of educated workers. Almost 150,000 more workers left the state than moved there in 2022. On top of that, California has a high corporate tax rate of 8.84%. 

When creating the list, Simplify took into consideration several factors, including new business growth, the job creation rate, consumer spending growth, the maximum corporate tax rate, regional inflation as of November 2023 and educated worker mobility.