Today, we compare Forbes magazine’s “Best States for Business” rankings to Truth in Accounting’s (TIA) proprietary method for calculating “Taxpayer Burden” which measures each taxpayer share of state debt.

According to the Forbes study, the top 3 states to do business are Utah, North Dakota, and North Carolina. Last year, all three were in the top 5, but the number one state for business from last year’s report, Virginia, dropped to fourth place.

Utah—surplus of $4,200

North Dakota—surplus of $28,400

North Carolina—burden of -$8,400

The worst states according to this study (from worst to best) are:

Mississippi: burden of -$9,200

Maine: burden of -$8,800

West Virginia: burden of -$13,000

You can investigate trends in Taxpayer Burdens, the ranking on the Forbes “Best States for Business” study, and many other metrics with our Charting Tool at State Data Lab.