Gov. Kay Ivey signed numerous NFIB-supported bills into law after Alabama’s 2017 regular legislative session ended, but there is still work to do to boost the state’s business friendliness. According to a recent report from WalletHub, Alabama is in the bottom 10 when it comes to the best states to start a business.
WalletHub analysts compared all 50 states using an evaluation of 20 metrics that fell under three key categories: business environment, access to resources, and business costs. These included factors like average growth in number of small businesses, average growth of business revenues, five-year business survival rate, taxes, labor costs, availability of human capital, and financing accessibility.
On the 100-point scale, Alabama scored 40.92 for a rank of 42nd overall, last for business environment, 31st for access to resources, and ninth for business costs. All neighboring states fared better: Florida ranked sixth overall, Georgia eighth, Mississippi 28th, and Tennessee 27th.
Additionally, in its midyear report, the Tax Foundation found that Alabama had the fifth-highest combined state and local sales tax rate: 9.03 percent (4 percent state sales tax, 5.03 percent average local sales tax).
The 2018 gubernatorial election is beginning to heat up, and candidates have their work cut out for them.
