A recent U.S. News and World Report study ranked Arizona the 34th best state in the country.
The report praised Arizona’s good infrastructure (ranked 12th) and healthy economy (19th), which is expected to take even further leaps in 2017 due to job growth, increased housing prices and population growth.
The report gave key consideration to a state’s healthcare and education, while also taking into account opportunity, safety, infrastructure, economy, and state government.
Arizona was ranked 28th for healthcare and 43rd for education. The state struck the middle ground for state government, ranking 26th.
Another recent study ranked Arizona highly for innovation. WalletHub says the Grand Canyon State is the 17th most innovative in the country, in a ranking that includes the District of Columbia. That study, which was released late last month, included factors like entrepreneurial activity, tax friendliness, and share of tech companies. Washington, D.C., ranked first, while West Virginia was last.
One way for states to improve innovation is by focusing on the permitting process, professor Wayne Hochwarter of the Florida State University said in the report.
“The permitting process has grown so onerous that organizations are losing billions of dollars just waiting, sitting on their hands, paying the interest while bureaucrats meander their way through the process, often setting up arbitrary rules that are not applied uniformly,” he said. “Too many municipalities worry about generating permitting money rather than generating new businesses that will grow the community.”
