It may not sound like the sexiest of accomplishments, but North Dakota is the second-best in business climate competitiveness in the country for the fifth consecutive year.

According to the Beacon Hill Institute's annual state Competitiveness reports, North Dakota received high marks in 20 top 10 national rankings. You may wonder, "What does any of that mean?" Well across the state, North Dakota seems to be the best in the country in several categories including infrastructure investment, access to high-speed bandwith, educational attainment, and electricity prices.

As far as business incubation goes, which by the way measures a state's ability to mobilize financing for investment and rate of business births, North Dakota made its biggest improvement for the year and went from 13th to sixth. The state also placed sixth in human resource factors such as training and health care, availability of skilled labor and a widespread commitment to education, and a high level of labor force participation.

North Dakota was only beat out in business competitiveness by Massachusetts. South Dakota, New Hampshire, and Iowa followed North Dakota, rounding out the top five performing states in the country.

Source: Inforum

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