Nebraska ranks 7th nationally in Forbes.com's latest national rankings of the "Best States for Business."

The survey measured business cost, labor, regulatory environment, economic climate, growth prospects and quality of life.

Forbes.com noted Nebraska ranked 9th in two key categories: Quality of life and business costs. Out of the 50 states, Nebraska's labor ranking was 29, its regulatory environment ranking was 14, economic climate ranking was 27, its growth prospects ranking was 30.

Nebraska was ranked 9th nationally by Forbes.com for quality of life. Farmer's market in Lincoln. Photo: M. Forsberg, Nebraska DED

Virginia was named the best state for business. Texas was placed second, followed by North Carolina, Utah, Colorado and Idaho.

Forbes prefaced its rankings this way: "Over the past ten years, the United States has seen corporations move job after job overseas in search of cheaper labor. An equally large problem has been the corporate tax rate. Five years ago, the U.S. corporate tax rate of 39% was the sixth highest among Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, according to the Tax Foundation. While other countries have lowered taxes, the U.S. rate hasn't budged, and today it has the highest rate among OECD countries, eclipsing former tax gougers such as Germany and Canada.

Nebraska was also ranked 9th nationally by Forbes.com for its relatively low business costs. Photo: M. Forsberg, Nebraska DED

And when you start factoring in litigation costs, $250 billion per year or 2% of gross domestic product, it's amazing that any companies stay in the U.S. So, what is a company to do in this high-cost, antibusiness environment? Maybe minimize the damage by moving to a more business-friendly state."

How did states surrounding Nebraska rank? Iowa-25, Missouri-22, Kansas-21, Colorado-5, Wyoming-23, South Dakota-17.

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