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Vermont is the 39th Best State for Business 2014

Vermont’s rank is 15 spots below New Hampshire, but well above New York, which came in second to last. Maine was 36th, while Massachusetts fell into the bottom five, at 46th.

Previous State: Oregon Next State: Rhode Island

No. 39 Vermont

Taxations & Regulations

Workforce Quality

Living Environment

Key Metrics
State GDP 

  • % Growth ’12-’13: 1.9
  • % Growth ’11-’12 v. Nat’l Avg. (2.5%): -1.3

Unemployment

  • Unemployment Rate Dec. 2013 %: 4.2
  • Comparison with Nat’l Rate (6.70%): -2.5

Domestic Migration

  • Domestic Net Migration 2013: -653
  • Rank: 22

State Government

  • State Debt per Capita Fiscal Year ’13 ($): 5,787
  • State & Local Gov’t Employees per 10k Residents: 641

State-Local Tax Burden

  • Rate (%): 10.1%
  • Compared to Nat’l Avg. (9.9%): 0.25%
Key Companies
  • Green Mountain Coffee
  • Casella Waste
  • Central Vermont Public Service Corp.
  • Ben & Jerry’s
Development Trend Indicator: Negative
State-led Obamacare revolution and now businesses are paying the price.
CEO Comments
“Vermont has very aggressive tax practices. High taxes, over-regulated, tremendous bureaucracies.”


Based on CEO Survey by ChiefExecutive.net

Sources:
Bureau of Economic Analysis
Bureau of Labor Statistics
NewGeography.com
The Tax Foundation

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J.P. Donlon

J.P. Donlon is Editor Emeritus of Chief Executive magazine.
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