Tax group releases state-by-state rankings

Washington (sixth), Utah (ninth) and Indiana (10th) round out the top 10, with Indiana having displaced Texas. Gov. Rick Perry, the GOP governor of Texas, has been aggressively selling the state’s business climate in recent months.

{mosads}The bottom 10 states in the rankings are generally on either coast, with California, New Jersey and New York picking up the rear.

Slate’s Matthew Yglesias criticized the list, noting that New York and California were central locations in major industry like finance and media. Other states at the bottom of the Tax Foundation’s list – like Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey – had among the highest median incomes in the country, Yglesias added.

But the Tax Foundation said those states have built-in advantages and could be doing even better if they fixed their tax codes.