Wyoming’s Tax Climate Ranked #1 By The Tax Foundation

The tax climate of Wyoming ranked 1st this year out of all 50 states, according to a new report by the Tax Foundation. The Cowboy State’s rank remains unchanged from 2013 in the 2014 State Business Tax Climate Index.

Several states have moved in the rankings since last year, with Texas dropping out of the top ten for the first time, landing at #11, and Virginia and Kentucky both falling three places to #26 and #27, respectively. On the positive side, Arizona climbed five ranks to #22 and Kansas shot up six spots to #20. Several other states also saw smaller changes.

The State Business Tax Climate Index, now in its 10th edition, collects data on over a hundred tax provisions for each state and synthesizes them into a single, easy-to-use score. The states are then compared against each other, so that each state’s ranking is relative to actual policies in place in other states around the country. A state’s ranking can rise or fall significantly based not just on its own actions, but on the changes or reforms made by other states.

The top ten states in 2014 are Wyoming (#1), South Dakota (#2), Nevada (#3), Alaska (#4), Florida (#5), Washington (#6), Montana (#7), New Hampshire (#8), Utah (#9), and Indiana (#10).