New Jersey makes big jump in CNBC's annual ranking of states for business

Thinking of starting a business in New Jersey? Well, according to CNBC's ranking of the best states for business, the Garden State comes with its ups and downs.

Among the entirety of the United States, New Jersey ranks as the 19th-best state for business, above average albeit with room for continued improvement.

New Jersey has seen considerable gains. In last year's ranking, New Jersey finished 42nd, near the bottom of the list. This coincides with Moody's upgrading of New Jersey's credit rating, a sign that the Garden State could indeed be on the way up for businesses.

The top four states in the country are all in the same region, with North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia claiming the top spots. Meanwhile, at the bottom of the list are Hawaii, Mississippi and Louisiana, with Alaska holding the dreaded last spot.

New Jersey's overall ranking is hurt by its "cost of doing business" rating, which is 44 out of 50. Where New Jersey scores highly is in quality of life, and it ranks third.

"Low crime. Reproductive rights. Inclusiveness. These are just some of the reasons why New Jersey was just named by CNBC as the third best state in the nation to live and work in," Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted citing the quality of life ranking.

Billed as "Life, Health & Inclusion" by the study, the quality of life criterion, according to CNBC is crucial to attracting workers to the state.

"With workers in short supply, companies are seeking to locate in states that can attract a broad array of talent," writes Scott Cohn, in an explanation of the study's methodology. "That makes quality of life an economic imperative."

That measurement seems to line up with similar evaluations of New Jersey. A previous study, conducted by Ozmosi, a health care analytics website, ranked it as the 10th-healthiest state in the country.

But despite New Jersey being such a healthy, quality place to live and work, that wasn't enough to boost its otherwise middling ratings, some of which were weighted higher (Hawaii's fifth ranking in that category was not enough to boost its dismal 47th overall ranking).

In 2023, New Jersey was CNBC's most improved state, getting promoted 23 spots. If that trend continues into next year, it would quite literally be off the charts. We'll just settle for finishing first in 2024.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ business ranking climbs higher on CNBC state list