The State Economic Handbook 2010

284 Pages·2009·2.74 MB·English

by  Scott D. Watkins, Patrick L. Anderson (eds.)

The State Economic Handbook
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The State Economic Handbook
2010 Edition
Anderson Economic Group, LLC
Scott D. Watkins, Editor
Patrick L. Anderson, Editor
THE STATE ECONOMIC HANDBOOK 2010
Copyright © Patrick L. Anderson and Scott D. Watkins, 2009.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2009 978-0-230-62116-9
All rights reserved.
This book contains data obtained from original public and private sources.
All material from copyrighted sources has been reprinted with approval.
Business climate rankings from Forbes Magazine are reprinted by permission of
Forbes Magazine © 2008 Forbes Inc. Tax climate rankings from the Tax Foundation
are reprinted by permission of The Tax Foundation © 2009. Voter participation and presidential
election results are reprinted by permission of Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections,
http://www.uselectionatlas.org (February 2009). All other data presented are from works created
by the U.S. Government, other sources in the public domain, or Anderson Economic Group, LLC.
First published in 2009 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLANTM
in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-38321-4 ISBN 978-0-230-10212-5 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-0-230-10212-5
ISSN: 1938–4939
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: December 2009
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments...................................................................viii
Introduction...............................................................................1
Alabama.....................................................................................5
Alaska......................................................................................10
Arizona....................................................................................15
Arkansas..................................................................................20
California.................................................................................25
Colorado..................................................................................30
Connecticut..............................................................................35
Delaware..................................................................................40
Florida.....................................................................................45
Georgia....................................................................................50
Hawaii.....................................................................................55
Idaho........................................................................................60
Illinois......................................................................................65
Indiana.....................................................................................70
Iowa.........................................................................................75
Kansas.....................................................................................80
Kentucky.................................................................................85
Louisiana.................................................................................90
Maine.......................................................................................95
Maryland...............................................................................100
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The State Economic Handbook, 2010 Edition
Massachusetts........................................................................105
Michigan................................................................................110
Minnesota...............................................................................115
Mississippi.............................................................................120
Missouri.................................................................................125
Montana.................................................................................130
Nebraska................................................................................135
Nevada...................................................................................140
New Hampshire.....................................................................145
New Jersey.............................................................................150
New Mexico...........................................................................155
New York...............................................................................160
North Carolina.......................................................................165
North Dakota..........................................................................170
Ohio........................................................................................175
Oklahoma...............................................................................180
Oregon....................................................................................185
Pennsylvania..........................................................................190
Rhode Island..........................................................................195
South Carolina.......................................................................200
South Dakota..........................................................................205
Tennessee...............................................................................210
Texas......................................................................................215
Utah........................................................................................220
Vermont..................................................................................225
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Virginia..................................................................................230
Washington............................................................................235
West Virginia.........................................................................240
Wisconsin..............................................................................245
Wyoming...............................................................................250
About the Data.......................................................................255
Glossary of Terms.................................................................257
Ranking the States.................................................................265
Population Growth, 2007–25 Projected Compound Average
Annual Rate ........................................................................................265
Youth Population (Percent under 18 Years of Age), 2007 .................266
Percent of Individuals below Poverty Level, 2007 ............................267
Change in Per Capita Income, 2006–7 ...............................................268
Change in Civilian Labor Force Size, 2000–7 ...................................269
Population Age 25+ with Masters Degree of Higher, 2007 ...............270
Net Change in Establishments (Births Less Deaths), 2005–6 ...........271
Change in State and Local Taxes Per Capita, 2004–5–2005–6 .........272
Participation of Population Age 18+, 2008 Presidential Election .....273
Index......................................................................................275
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The State Economic Handbook, 2010 Edition
Acknowledgments
This book could not have been completed if not for the assistance of the
staff at Anderson Economic Group, LLC who spent time collecting and
organizing data, maintaining databases, analyzing and checking figures,
and researching each of the 50 states.
The editors wish to particularly thank Tyler Marie Theile for her assis-
tance in the collection and organization of the data, as well as in writing the
state profiles. Also deserving of recognition are Lauren Branneman and
Katie Hayes for assisting in data collection and analysis. Theodore Bolema,
Jason Eli, Ilhan Geckil, and Alex Rosean also receive our thanks for their
assistance in checking the data for accuracy. Becky Scott of PSPublications
in Lansing, Michigan, is thanked for her assistance in developing the XML
scripts used to automate much of the data formatting and publishing.
viii
Introduction
Introduction
Many of our most important decisions center on “where?” Where is the
best market for my services? Where should my family move? Where will my
target customers be located 20 years from now? And the list goes on.
The experts at Anderson Economic Group, LLC have assembled this
2010 edition of The State Economic Handbook to help navigate the troves
of data available for use in making informed location decisions. This hand-
book is intended to serve both as a quick reference for top-level decisions,
and as a starting point for more in-depth research. It includes carefully
selected variables that give a broad picture of the economic, demographic,
and political environments in each state. It also carefully documents the
sources of the information, allowing you to access the original source if
necessary.
Just as in the 2008 and 2009 editions, we present important infor-
mation on each state about population, workforce and industry, voter
behavior, taxation, and more. This newest edition includes state-by-state
election results from the November 2008 gubenatorial, congressional, and
presidential elections, all presented for the first time alongside industry,
demographic, tax, and other important state-level data.
These data, which come from various federal agencies, Forbes
Magazine, Anderson Economic Group, the Tax Foundation, and other
suchsources, are not assembled in any other single volume. We selected
the data in this book based on what our business, government, and non-
profit clients actually use to make decisions in real-world situations.
Organization of the Book
This book provides a concise look at key economic, demographic,
andpolitical information for each of America’s 50 states. Data is presented
on a state-by-state basis, and the states are ordered alphabetically, from
Alabama to Wyoming. There is also a State Ranking section near the end
of the book to present a clear look at how the states compare. Following the
ranking section is a brief discussion on the data sources used in the book,
as well as a glossary of terms that provides a clear understanding of what
each variable presented really means.
Each state’s section begins with a map of the state showing its major
population centers, the main road network, the capital city, and where the
state is located relative to others. A narrative is provided to highlight key
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S. D. Watkins et al. (eds.), The State Economic Handbook 2010 Edition
© Patrick L. Anderson and Scott D. Watkins 2009